Accreditation

The college is currently preparing the 2012 Midterm Report. This report is part of the standard accreditation cycle and is required of all colleges. The midterm report will include updates on the five recommendations received by the college as a result of the 2009 accreditation evaluation. The midterm report will also include updates on planning agendas generated by the 2009 self-study process.

ACCREDITATION HAS BEEN REAFFIRMED!
All sanctions have been removed with no additional reporting required

At its June meeting, the ACCJC, part of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, acted to reaffirm accreditation for Los Angeles City College (LACC). The ACCJC voted to accept LACC’s Follow-Up Report and to remove the probationary status.

From the LACC press release:
This complete reaffirmation of accreditation allows LACC to continue its commitment to serving one of the most diverse communities in the nation and providing access to a comprehensive educational and support system that empowers students to succeed.  “The processes and practices we have worked diligently to develop and enhance will serve to keep us focused on increasing the success of our students.  We have made great progress in improving our planning, program review and student learning outcome assessment systems and the reaffirmation of accreditation tells us we are on the right track. I would like to say a special thank you to our accreditation team and to all faculty and staff who worked over the past year to remove our probationary status,” said Dr. Jamillah Moore, President of Los Angeles City College.

“This was a true team effort, with the entire LACC community participating,” said Dr. Kimberly Perry, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Chair of LACC’s Accreditation Response Team. “Not only did we improve our effectiveness systems, but we have assessed the student learning outcomes for over 300 courses this year alone and nearly all of our degree programs. The LACC community should be proud of amount of work that we have accomplished and we look forward to achieving even more in the future.”

LACC Commendations

1. The team commends the college for its commitment to sustainability and its plans to develop a state of the art energy management program. The long-term plan for photo-voltaics on the new parking structure aims not only to get the college off the grid but also aims to sell energy, thereby generating income to help support maintenance of added square footage.

2. The team commends the college for its sincere and substantive response to the 2003 recommendation that “administration, faculty, and staff renew their commitment to effective and timely communication.” Documents and enthusiastic testimonials afforded evidence that great progress has been made not just in the transmission of information but also engagement in dialogue around important campus wide issues.

LACC Recommendations & Outcomes for Spring 2010

1. Program Review for Institutional Improvement

"In order to increase institutional effectiveness and meet standards, the team recommends that the college more systematically use the results of program/unit reviews to continually refine and improve program practices resulting in appropriate improvements in student achievement, learning, support services, and institutional processes. (I.B.1-7; II.A.2; II.B.4; II.C.2; III.B.2; III.C.2; III.D.3; IV.A.5)".

KEY OUTCOMES:

• Improved Institutional Effectiveness: Evaluated existing processes, created SGC PR subcommittee that developed program review “modules” to increase the use of results; dialog and formative evaluations improved practices
• Increased Planning Proficiency of LACC: Clarified definitions and processes, provided training, better documentation and access to analysis and data to support program review
• Closed the Loop: College-wide planning summit; committees are using program review results for dialog, college planning, budget, management and decision making processes

2. Staff Development

"In order to meet the standards, the team recommends that the college develop a robust and comprehensive professional development program to both enhance institutional effectiveness practices and promote institutional engagement by all employee groups. (I.B; III.A.2; III.A.5, IV.A.5)."

KEY OUTCOMES:

• Professional Development activities now focus more directly on institutional effectiveness, student learning outcomes, and planning and program review.
• The Planning Agenda from the self study was fully addressed by the development of a website and the revision of the Shared Governance Handbook.

3. Research

"To meet the standards, the team recommends that the college strengthen the research function in order to provide continuous and meaningful analysis of data and apply the finding to program improvement. (I.B.2-3; I.B.5-6; II.A.1.a; II.B.3.e; II.B.4; II.C.2; III.B.2; III.C.2; III.D.3)."

KEY OUTCOMES:

• Increase Research Capacity of LACC: Professional development for OIE, partnering with IRAC and the District Office and identifying best practices
• Improve Transparency and Accountability: Increased effectiveness of the information infrastructure (the IE Portal ? supporting Shared Governance)
• Enhance and Enable Analysis Capacity of LACC: Create customized training, reporting and documentation systems

District Recommendations

1. In order to improve, the post-retirement health liability should be carefully monitored for the potential fiscal ramifications that could arise over the next few years (III.D.1.c).

KEY OUTCOMES:

• $17.7 million contributed to the irrevocable trust as of December, 31 2009
• Expect to reduce obligation by roughly $100 million as the result of renegotiating health benefits

2. In order to improve, both the district and the college need to evaluate the consistent adherence in practice to the recently developed delineation of operational responsibilities and functions (IV.B.3.a).

KEY OUTCOMES:

• Conducted District Roles & Functions Assessment Survey
• Revised District Office Service Outcomes & Committee Descriptions
• Revised of the Functional Map as the District Governance & Functions Handbook
• Expanded Content of 2008 Functional Map, including
• All District-level governance and decision-making processes
• Consultation, Planning, and Accountability processes
• Constituency roles, etc.

3. Develop and implement methods for the evaluation of role delineation and governance and decision-making structures and processes for the college and the district. Widely communicate the results of the evaluation and use those results as the basis for improvement (IV.B.3.g).

KEY OUTCOMES:

• Conducted District-Level Governance and Decision-Making Assessment
• Conducted a District Governance Committee Self Evaluation Process (DBC, DPC, Bond Steering, JLMBC)
• Publication of the first biennial District Governance Assessment Report
• Governance materials included in new District Governance & Functions Handbook
• Instituted a new Board “District Effectiveness Review Cycle”