Delta College in accreditation danger

High education commission says school has 2 years to fix problems
By Alex Breitler
Record Staff Writer
July 08, 2008 6:00 AM

STOCKTON - A higher education commission Monday warned San Joaquin Delta College that it is in danger of losing its accreditation, a form of peer-review approval that is critical to the future of the college.

Should accreditation be revoked, degrees earned by Delta students "wouldn't be valid in many people's eyes," college President Raul Rodriguez said Monday.

"If we lose our accreditation, we basically shut down," he said. "But we're far from that point."

Delta has two years to fix problems before such a disaster could take place. Among the challenges: The college's Board of Trustees must develop a code of ethics, and should essentially step back and let Rodriguez do his job, according to a letter from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.

For perspective, 20 of the roughly 170 colleges in the commission's region - California, Hawaii and the Pacific islands - are currently under "warning" status. Among them are Solano, Sierra, Ohlone and Diablo Valley colleges, and now Delta, to name a few.

So Delta's predicament isn't terribly unusual, although this is the first time Trustee Dan Parises can recall an accreditation warning in his 33 years on the board.

"I think we'll be able to resolve what they want us to resolve," he said Monday.

The board has been accused of as many as five Brown Act violations in the past seven years. Most prominently, the San Joaquin County civil grand jury reported last month that one or more board members may have relayed confidential information to the developer of a controversial Mountain House campus in 2006.

The board, against advice of college staff and consultants, voted 4-3 to build in Mountain House instead of Tracy, an outcome that the grand jury said may have cost taxpayers up to $50 million.

Monday's accreditation letter does not specifically mention these incidents. It does say the board needs a code of ethics, and the trustees' roles should be as policymakers.

The college also needs a comprehensive strategic plan and a stable management team to improve communication, the commission said in its four-page letter. Its full report was not available Monday afternoon.

Rodriguez said the college is already moving to improve planning. "We think we have all the pieces," he said. "We just need to tie them together the way (the commissioners) want us to do it."

Also, when the commission visited Delta this spring, four administrative jobs were vacant. Three of the four positions have since been filled, Rodriguez said.

As for the board, the commission appears to be telling trustees to "stop micromanaging," the president said.

But Parises said that if anything, closer scrutiny by the board was needed when outside consultants were brought in to manage a $250 million bond passed by voters in 2004. College administrators have said early estimates on the cost of a range of projects were too low, and now $62.5 million worth of improvements must be cut.

"We needed to do more micromanaging," Parises said. "That's how we got into this problem to begin with."

Trustee Ted Simas, who had not seen the letter Monday afternoon, said he's heard of only one case in which a college has lost accreditation and that the commission doesn't want that to be the ultimate outcome.

"But I don't take this lightly," he said.

The college must respond to the commission in a report due Oct. 15.

NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

Among other recommendations made by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, San Joaquin Delta College and/or its trustees should:

• Develop a code of ethics.

• Have the board make policy but delegate operations of the college to President Raul Rodriguez.

• Develop a revamped strategic plan that examines the effectiveness of the college.

• Keep a "stable" management team.

• "Increase collegewide sensitivity to the needs of its diverse population."


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