Commission votes to revoke City College of San Francisco accreditation

A regional accrediting agency voted to rescind Metropolis College of San Francisco's accreditation in a year; the campus can appeal the determination. Photo of City College'south Mission District campus from Flickr.

City College of San Francisco, the largest community college in the state and one of the largest in the nation, will accept its accreditation terminated in a year for failing to correct a series of financial, management and governance problems, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges announced Wednesday.

The commission's vote calls for the college's accreditation to be revoked July 31, 2014. Termination is not yet last, yet, the commission said. Statewide Community Colleges Chancellor Brice Harris said Urban center College can and volition asking a review of the ruling by July 31, and will besides appeal the decision. If the campus loses accreditation, students would no longer be able to receive land and federal financial aid.

Harris said he was disappointed that the commission did non observe the progress that Metropolis College of San Francisco has made so far went far plenty to bring information technology into compliance. "My function is going to do everything in its ability to see that City Higher retains its accreditation," Harris said during a conference call with reporters addressing the commission's determination.

City College, with 85,000 students, would be the largest college in California to lose accreditation, but not the first. Compton Community College previously lost accreditation and was taken over past another campus. The activeness against the San Francisco campus was one of several appear Wednesday by the regional accrediting commission.

During the review and appeal process, Metropolis College will retain its accreditation.

"We are open for business and we are registering students for the fall semester," interim college Chancellor Thelma Scott-Skillman said on the conference telephone call.

City College is in the process of searching for a permanent chancellor and Harris said that search will keep and is fifty-fifty more important in lite of the commission'south action. More than immediately, Harris said he will ask the customs higher Board of Governors to approve a special trustee with extraordinary authority to run the school; the lath will consider the appointment at its meeting side by side week. That person would assume all the powers of the Lath of Trustees, which will "proceed to exist, but on the sidelines," Harris said.

With the exception of nullifying commonage bargaining agreements, the special trustee would be able to negotiate contracts, reduce courses and close some of Urban center College's centers throughout San Francisco.

California Community Colleges Chancellor Brice Harris

"This volition put the recovery process in a much higher gear and motion much faster," said Harris, noting that there is only ane yr remaining to save the college.

In a statement on its web site, the committee said the college had addressed only two of the 14 recommendations for areas of improvement since the campus was placed on a "show cause" condition in July of 2022 to prove why it should go on its accreditation. "The commission cited the lack of fiscal accountability as well as institutional deficiencies in the expanse of leadership and governance every bit the primary obstacles to the higher's turnaround," the statement said. City Higher is "significantly out of compliance" in many areas, the commission said, including "standards for instructional programs, student support services, library and learning support services and facilities."

The California Federation of Teachers, which represents the kinesthesia at Metropolis College, said information technology will consider legal action along with the appeal, calling it fundamentally unfair and alleging that the higher has fabricated significant progress toward resolving the accreditation issues.

"The commission acts as estimate, jury and executioner on community colleges in California and the western states with little regard or business for their behavior," said federation President Josh Pechthalt.

Alisa Messer, president of the City College affiliate of the spousal relationship, said it was a shocking decision that will harm the schoolhouse. Messer said the process of working to repair the issues raised by the committee in its "prove cause" action has already created a morale vacuum.

"We've seen an exodus of kinesthesia and of administrators and staff every bit people have looked for jobs elsewhere," Messer said. "This has been a demoralizing experience, it has been a challenging experience, and despite everyone's dedication to run into the college through, it has tried anybody and has pushed many people to the limit. Nosotros've lost some very good people."

Some students are worried how the determination will affect their future.

"I am completely outraged," said Shanell Williams, a newly elected student trustee on the Lath of Trustees of CCSF and a member of the Coalition to Save City College, an advocacy group of community members, faculty, staff, administrators and students. "Nosotros have done everything that this interim assistants asked u.s.a. to do. … Now they have set us up to fail."

Williams, an urban studies major, is planning to complete 1 more year at Metropolis College and then utilise to transfer to a four-year academy. "Maybe it will be OK for me but information technology'south not OK for other folks," she said. "This is going to touch the lowest income students."

The commission'southward vote to terminate Metropolis College'southward accreditation was simply one of several other actions taken at its June 5-7 meeting in Burlingame, but just announced Wednesday.

It imposed sanctions on several other colleges, including placing Hartnell College in Salinas on probation, and issuing a "warning" to Coastline Customs Higher in Fountain Valley near Huntington Beach, Imperial Valley College in Imperial, Los Angeles Mission College, Los Angeles Valley College and Orange Declension Higher.

Placing a higher on probation means it has "deviated significantly" from the committee'southward accreditation standards. A warning means that a college has "deviated" from those standards.

All the same, the news was far more favorable for several other colleges. The commission removed the "warning" characterization issued to Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, Merritt Higher and Laney Higher in Oakland, Merced College, West Los Angeles College and Los Angeles Southwest Higher. It besides removed Los Angeles Harbor College from probation.

EdSource Today senior reporter Jane Meredith Adams and Executive Director Louis Freedberg contributed to this written report.

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Source: https://edsource.org/2013/commission-votes-to-revoke-city-college-of-san-francisco-accreditation/34690