Accreditation a flying success for Saddleback College
Passed (Dylan Lujano)
Saddleback College President Tod A. Burnett said that he was very pleased with the preliminary report delivered by Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.
The accreditation team visited Saddleback College Oct. 18 to Oct. 21. An accreditation visit reviews the college to make sure that standards are being met in terms of education, faculty involvement, and the overall culture of the institution.
“Our college was committed to showing the ACCJC that we are not only extraordinarily committed to the mission of our college,” said Burnett, “but that we are continually working to improve our ability to foster student success.”
Saddleback College does not simply look to pass the accreditation but sets the bar much higher. Burnett believes that these higher standards were met.
“Saddleback College is one of the state’s premier institutions of higher education and this accreditation visiting team confirmed this as fact,” said Burnett.
Accreditation is a lengthy process. It began by crafting a 383-page self-study report to describe the vision, mission and values of Saddleback College. The report is intended to review the strengths of the colleges and the areas for improvement.
“The entire team identified the self study document as clear, direct, well documented,” said Academic Senate Past-President Dr. Bob Cosgrove. “And that the writers were honest. We did not ignore problems that needed to be addressed.”
Members of the accreditation team met with the Academic Senate during their visit. They discussed general impressions of the campus and how they admired the changes Saddleback College made in response to the last accreditation report from five years ago.
“Everyone on campus has a personal connection to this institution,” said Jemelle Moore, instructor from Los Angeles City College and member of accreditation team.
“We admire the rapid response to the last accreditation. The advancement of online services was impressive considering other institutions have not been able to do this as rapidly,” said Marcia Deutsch member of the accreditation team from Honolulu, Hawaii.
The ACCJC will now work on compiling all the information into a final report and a final decision. The decision should be made by January.
“Until then, we all can relish on our success and get back to what we all want to do and do so well: helping our students succeed,” said Burnett. “Thanks to our entire college community for being engaged with our accreditation efforts and going over and above in assisting the visiting team.”
Burnett concluded an e-mail regarding the visit by writing, “Congratulations Saddleback College!”