MSJC Receives High Accreditation Marks

Students can rest assured that the education they are receiving at Mt. San Jacinto College meets the high standards set out for it.

MSJC has received reaffirmation of accreditation from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the college announced Monday, a process that every college is required to undergo periodically.  

Dr. Roger Schultz, MSJC superintendent/president, received a letter dated Feb. 1, 2012 that confirms the ACCJC took action last month to reaffirm MSJC’s accreditation.

“I am very proud of this institution and the collective work of every individual and constituent group at MSJC that creates the fabric of success for our college and our students,” Schultz said, in a news releasel

“This reaffirmation attests to the commitment of our faculty and staff to work together as a team to attain the highest level of educational excellence for our students.”

The letter outlined five recommendations the college is required to address with a Follow-Up Report that is not due until March 2013.

"MSJC is not required to undergo any additional monitoring, an achievement that a very small number of colleges are able to attain," said Karin Marriott, MSJC spokesperson.

Accreditation Liaison Officer Rebecca Teague, associate dean of Planning/Institutional Effectiveness/Grants, said the recommendations show the growth MSJC has made since it received seven recommendations during the last accreditation visit six years ago.

“The ACCJC sets forth challenging standards and we worked hard to meet the previous recommendations,” Teague said.

“We fully expect to meet the new recommendations in a shortened timeline because we already have the processes in place and because of our dedicated faculty and staff. We look forward to meeting these new recommendations and to remaining an institution that provides evidence that it is continuously improving and moving forward.”

The ACCJC’s evaluation team spent four days in October 2011 at MSJC reviewing how the college measures up to the standards set forth by the ACCJC, Marriott said.

The visit resulted in eight commendations, or praises, and five recommendations, or areas to strengthen, Marriott said:

Commendations:

• Open culture -- engaging all employees
• Collegial and mutual respect, pride and dedication
• Inclusivity - from Shared Governance to College Hour to Teaching and Learning Communities
• Progress in Planning and Assessment and the clarity and availability of this progress on the web site
• Identification and implementation of best practices in Basic Skills and Student Success
• Professional Development: SDICCA (San Diego Imperial County Community College Association – the regional faculty internship program), Classified Staff Development Day, Teaching and Learning and Academies, @One.
• Involvement of all constituents (all students, communities and employee groups) in Board Policies and Administrative Procedures
• The Board of Trustees self evaluation and action plan with training and development

Recommendations:

• Routinely assess and revise mission statement.
• Sustainability -- use published processes, including continuing with the Resource Allocation
• SLO and Assessment - complete all SLOs for all courses and programs, document improvements and distribute to constituents.
• Indentify and address gaps in student outcomes by disaggregating data by demographics, modality of instruction, time of day and location.
• Develop guidelines for determining minimum number of faculty and staff needed to meet the college's mission. 

The standards help set the bar for excellent practices and are necessary conditions for high-quality education, according to the ACCJC’s website.

Accreditation assures the public that accredited colleges “meet the Standards; the education earned at the institutions is of value to the student who earned it; and employers, trade or profession-related licensing agencies, and other colleges and universities can accept a student’s credential as legitimate.”

MSJC plans to post an electronic version of the ACCJC’s report as soon as it receives a copy of the document. Marriott said to look for the document soon at www.msjc.edu/InstitutionalPlanningandEffectiveness.

MSJC serves students in southwest Riverside County with campuses in Menifee and San Jacinto, as well as education complexes in Temecula and Banning.