The accreditation report and accreditation work are on track.

“I think we are in pretty good shape,” said San Jose City College President Barbara Kavalier.

The committee chairs of the various accreditation task forces at SJCC gave their updated reports to the Academic Senate (AS) on Sept. 18. The committee chairs presented to the AS the current status of Student Learning Outcomes, Program Reviews and Integrated Planning.

Vice President of Administrative Services Greg Nelson gave the AS an update on the Planning and Allocation Model to be presented in the Accreditation Follow-up Report.

Nelson presented a rundown of the “total cost of ownership” of the various buildings on campus.

This work defined which buildings have reached the end of their economic life and now cost the district more to maintain than the buildings’ assessed value. The model will determine which buildings will be scheduled for tear down and replacement out of the district’s bond funds.

In closing her portion of the AS meeting regarding the status of Accreditation, Kavalier set the expectation of the Accreditation Committee’s likely assessment of the college’s work.

“We will likely be continued on probation because part of the Accreditation Committee’s expectation is that we show ‘a continuous quality level’ of executing the processes which we have put in place,” Kavalier said.   “We simply do not have a history of these processes yet. They better not place us on ‘show cause’ (which would essentially shut the college down).”

AS heard concern from several faculty members about the possible realignment of the Medical Assisting Program under a different division.

“The Academic Senate is discussing a proposal by the Vice President of Administrative Affairs to move Medical Assisting from the Business and Technology Division to the Math and Science Division,” said Dean of Math & Science, Leandra Martin.  “A number of faculty spoke to the AS and thought that Allied Health Services should stay as a group reporting to its current division,”

During public comments, additional faculty affected by this move said the proposal was put forward without discussion, without transparency and program review.

Anthropology professor Jeffery Allen Smith addressed the AS, saying “The anthropology classes were cut down to one section per semester with no transparency about how this decision was made.  (This decision) goes against our mission statement; there is no social justice in making decisions behind closed doors or why these classes have been cut without any explanation. I have incredible student demand;  every semester, I have 50 students and a waitlist.”

The AS agreed to agenized this item for further discussion at its next scheduled meeting.