The Accrediting Committee for Commercial and Junior Colleges (ACCJC), consisting of 14 members, is coming to Santa Rosa Junior College in March to review anything and everything having to do with the college’s curriculum to see if SRJC meets four main standards in their external evaluation reports.
“Each team member has a specialty in a given area or field,” said Mary Kay Rudolph, senior vice president of academic affairs and accreditation liaison officer.
On Tuesday, March 10, from 3 to 4 p.m., and Wednesday, March 11, from noon to 1 p.m. in the Doyle Library, room 4245, four members of the ACCJC will visit SRJC to answer questions about SRJC’s upcoming self-evaluation report, which consists of four standards.
Simultaneously, on both days, a video conference will be held in the Call Building, room 640.
Standard I carries out a mission statement which ensures effective institutional activity planning, data analysis incorporation and an evaluation on the school’s overall progress.
Standard II encompasses instructional programs, student support services and library and learning support services, which covers student learning programs and services.
Standard III focuses on human, physical, technology and financial resources. The standard seeks to maintain an effective system in each department by establishing guidelines on faculty conduct, resource use, program planning and budget development policies.
Standard IV evaluates the decision-making process involved in supervising the governance of faculty, staff and administrators.
Faculty, staff and students may attend, but it is assumed those with questions will have read the report, located at accreditation.santarosa.edu.
Already, SRJC has undergone several critical changes to its technological resources, such as the planning website and the accreditation website, now more user friendly.
Staying an accredited junior college is serious when it comes to the students’ futures. Only once a school is accredited can students add such a place of academic prestige to their resumes and gain access to federal aid. No accreditation means no federal aid.
“It is very important that faculty be equally involved,” said Wanda Burzycki, the faculty accreditation co-chair.
In 2013, every committee member wrote a draft for the report, which has taken approximately two years to finalize.
The accreditation final summary is more of a “snapshot” into the school’s progress thus far. It has already gone through many changes, as it is constantly evolving.
