Self-Study Committees Prepare for Accreditation
By Chris Smith
Pulse Staff
Reporter
Palo Alto students will soon have an opportunity to impact their educational futures.
Every 10 years the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools thoroughly reviews colleges to ensure that the institutions are complying with certain criteria. If a college is in compliance, it keeps its accreditation. If not, it could lose its accreditation status. In other words, credit hours would not transfer.
“(This is) where students would be not only helpful, but essential,” said Dr. Dorothy Haecker, Chair of Behavioral Sciences and Humanities and Director of the Self-Study. Students must make their voices heard, according to Haecker.
In March 2002, Palo Alto College will go through such a process. In preparation, the college assembled a group of faculty to conduct a self-study. The self-study is broken into nine committees: Purpose, Faculty, Organization and Administration, Institutional Effectiveness, Library, Financial Resources, Educational Programs, Student Development and Physical Resources.
Palo Alto went through an “initial accreditation” in 1987. The first full accreditation occurred in 1992. The review left the college with 53 recommendations and five years of follow-up reports, according to Haecker.
“That's double the average number schools typically get,” said Haecker. “We don't want five years of follow-up reports. We don't want six months of follow-up reports. We want to nail it this time.”
The common thread in talking with some of the people involved in the self-study is that students must have an awareness of the importance of this event.
Take a look around campus. Does Palo Alto College meet or exceed your expectations and needs? Do you have access to adequate facilities for research, financial aid or career development? The committees that will explore these questions are the Purpose, Library, Educational Programs and Student Development.
According to the Committee Chairs and Director, it will be crucial that these specific committees obtain student input. Student focus groups and evaluations will be forthcoming. This is the opportunity for students to offer a fresh, unique perspective.
The Purpose Committee is the foundation of the self-study, according to Alba DeLeon, Assistant Professor of Art and Chair of the Purpose Committee. It gives the study its sense of direction—where it wants to go and how to get there.
According to Daniel Rodriguez, Assistant Professor/Counselor and Chair of the Library Committee for the Self-Study, the Library Committee has 55 areas to cover, ranging from the services the library provides, to the technology support, to the collection of books and resources.
The Educational Programs Committee evaluates topics such as the admission and advisement process. It will view undergraduate programs including distance learning to ensure the proper classes and programs are in place.
“The Educational Program is the heart of the institution,” said Stacey R. Johnson, Chair of the English, Communications, Foreign Languages and English as a Second Language and Chair of the Educational Programs Committee. “It's the education that we deliver to the students.”
The Student Development Committee will evaluate programs apart from the classroom. It will measure counseling, career development, student government and student activities to name a few.
The self-study process outlines four specific goals to achieve. First, to conduct a comprehensive analytical assessment of the effectiveness of the college in meeting its stated mission and goals. Second, to enhance collegiality and the spirit of community among faculty, staff and students. Third, to strengthen the college's leadership in meeting changing community needs, and fourth, to identify and improve the operational structures and procedures of the college.
In the “Criteria for Accreditation” handbook, there are 363 “must” statements. Every single one of these statements must be achieved. An institution “must” have a clearly defined purpose or mission statement appropriate to collegiate education as well as to its own specific educational role. The institution “must” provide a competent faculty, adequate library/learning resources, appropriate computer resources, instructional materials, equipment and physical facilities. Learning resources and services “must” be adequate to support the needs of users.
“What a self-study does, it points out to you what we are not doing right and how we can improve that,” said Luis Mercado, Outreach Services Specialist and Chair of Student Development Services Committee.
“All I need is some really highly motivated students who want to be a part of (this) process and who are frankly interested in taking a bigger picture kind of look at their school,” said Haecker. For more information, contact Haecker at 921-5055 or dhaecker@accd.edu.