Well past their prime time

Some Delta College trustees have overstayed their usefulness
By The Record
July 11, 2008 6:00 AM

The accreditation of San Joaquin Delta College is in danger. But not in much danger.

Representatives of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges put the college on notice that it has two years to clean up its act or face possible loss of accreditation.

If accreditation were to be lost, it would be devastating. Degrees earned by Delta's students wouldn't be as valid in the eyes of many, President Raul Rodriguez acknowledges.

No accreditation essentially means no school, at least no school with any value.

The commission's main complaints are that trustees aren't doing their job as an oversight body, that they have no code of ethics and that they interfere with Rodriguez's ability to do his job.

If some of these complaints sound familiar, it's because last month, the San Joaquin County grand jury issued a scathing report saying much the same thing.

Among other things, grand jurors complained that trustees ignored staff and administration recommendations and pushed ahead with plans for a new Mountain House campus rather than placing it in Tracy. That cost taxpayers $50 million, according to the jurors, who said some board members may have relayed confidential information to the Mountain House developer.

If that indeed happened, then plainly some board members violated their fiduciary duty to taxpayers.

What is without doubt is that cost overruns, delays and redos have cost so much of the $250 million in bond funds taxpayers approved four years ago that district officials recently said about $62.5 million in planned projects will have to be scrapped.

Clearly, some trustees - several of whom have served for decades but who are no longer functioning as overseers and policymakers - have stayed well past their time. It is time for some on the Delta College board to leave.

The fact that Delta College last year awarded more associate degrees than almost any other institution in the country is a credit not only to the students but also to the teachers and support staff. Delta ranked fifth out of more than 5,000 colleges, Community College Week reported in June. The college ranked 58th in 2006.

That $62.5 million in bond money has essentially been frittered away is a discredit to those running the district, primarily the trustees.

Losing accreditation would be the absolute last straw. It would further discredit the board. It would undermine the huge financial support taxpayers have showered on the district. But most important, it would jeopardize Delta students and the futures they are trying to make for themselves.
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