Pasadena City College has regained its full accreditation status after a regional commission attached with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges decided last month to remove the college from probation.
The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) had earlier threatened to revoke PCC’s accreditation when a rift between the administration and teachers was at its peak. In 2015, the Commission put PCC on probation after finding serious flaws in the college’s “governance process,” i.e. review, ethics and planning process.
In a letter to PCC Superintendent/President Rajen Vurdien dated Friday, February 3, Richard Winn, ACCJC Interim President, said the Commission reviewed last month a Follow-Up Report and other documents submitted by PCC, as well as other reports submitted by an ACCJC external evaluation team.
“After considering the material… the Commission finds that Pasadena City College has addressed Recommendations 1 through 8, as noted by the spring 2015 comprehensive evaluation team, corrected the deficiencies, and meets Eligibility Requirements…” Winn said in the letter, enumerating a series of numbered requirements and standards as required in the accreditation process.
“On behalf of the Commission, I wish to express appreciation for the collaborative work that Pasadena City College undertook to prepare the Follow-Up Report and to support the work of the external evaluation team,” Winn continued. “Thank you for sharing the values and the work of accreditation to ensure educational quality and to support student success. Accreditation and peer review are most effective when the College and the ACCJC work together to focus on student outcomes and continuous quality improvement in higher education.”
Winn said the ACCJC decided on restoring PCC’s accreditation to full status during its meeting on January 11 to 13.
Winn’s letter is now posted on the PCC’s official website as required for appropriate dissemination to students and the public.
Vurdien reportedly credited close work among PCC staff, faculty and administrators for the turnaround. He said the decision will bring about an “improved campus climate, clarity in decision-making, increased transparency and superior ethical standards.”
Many of the problems that resulted in PCC being put under probation occurred during the term of former president Mark Rocha, who received no-confidence votes from students and faculty. Rocha even cancelled a winter session at the college, although this was reversed resulting in a payout to employees who lost working hours.
Rocha left PCC in 2014 with a $400,000 severance package, which a Los Angeles Superior Court judge later nullified after the nonprofit Californians Aware complained there was no transparency in the way the PCC Board of Trustees discussed and approved the package.
Vurdien’s email stressing that “much work still needs to be done” to protect the improvements the college has made.
Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.
Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.
