Key Steps Taken to Remove Unreliable ACCJC — California’s Community College Accreditor

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Monday, November 16, 2015

State Board directs Chancellor to implement plan for a new model

Walnut, CA – The Community College Board of Governors unanimously passed a resolution declaring that the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) “no longer meets the current and anticipated needs of California community colleges.”

“Today’s vote makes clear that the ACCJC is an impediment to student success and needs to be replaced,” said Joshua Pechthalt, president of the California Federation of Teachers. “The organization and its leadership lack credibility and are causing serious harm to our community colleges, faculty and the more than two million students they serve. They need to go now.”

The State Board of Governors directed Chancellor Brice Harris to come up with “a recommendation for action to establish a new model for an accrediting agency,” including a plan and timeline.

Monday’s action was in response to the Chancellor’s Accreditation Task Force Report, issued in August, which cites a multitude of failures by the ACCJC and recommends that California replace it with a new agency.

“The report is very clear: We need an accrediting agency that is transparent, responsive, consistent and free from conflicts of interest,” said Joanne Waddell, President of the Los Angeles College Faculty Guild, AFT 1521, who served on the task force.

In addition to the CFT, the Chancellor’s task force report has received widespread support from around the state, including the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, the California Community Colleges School Employees Association and the Community College Association.

“The ACCJC has lost all perspective in its role in accreditation and has become a detriment to the success of our students,” said Dean Murakami, President of the Los Rios College Federation of Teachers. “That this commission lacks credibility in the eyes of its peers and the public is an understatement. Organizations far and wide have voiced their displeasure with this rogue accrediting body.”

Next month the CFT will travel to Washington, DC to make its case for removing the ACCJC before the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) and the Department of Education which is in charge of authorizing accreditors.

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The CFT represents over 25,000 faculty in thirty community college districts, and 120,000 educational employees at every level of the education system, from Head Start to UC. More info: www.cft.org.