Time to get serious

Probation a prospect not to be taken lightly by Delta College
By The Record
February 20, 2009 6:00 AM

It was disappointing to learn that San Joaquin Delta College has been placed on probation by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.

In June, the same group issued a warning to the college telling officials there to bring things up to an acceptable level or face probation and the possibility of losing accreditation.

Losing accreditation is no slap on the wrist. Among many other things, it could undermine the availability of financial aid to students and jeopardize the academic future of students wanting to go on to four-year schools.

Like last summer, college officials seemed to say don't worry about the threat. It's not uncommon for colleges to be given warnings or even placed on probation, they said.

Maybe so, and it's true that last summer, the commission issued warnings to about 20 other colleges in the West. But just because being threatened is common doesn't mean it isn't embarrassing.

In the fall, Delta officials did send the commission a 250-page report outlining the progress they felt had been made addressing the commission's concerns. They hoped that would be the end of it.

Apparently not.

Probation indicates the college "deviates significantly" from standards, commission President Barbara A. Beno told Delta President Raul Rodriguez in a Feb. 3 letter.

In fact, of 11 recommendations to the commission, six still have not been addressed. Ignoring - or at least putting off action on - more than half the things suggested by an accreditation commission is not the way to make the group happy.

To be sure, there has been a huge change in the trustee leadership at Delta. In November, district voters swept from office the two incumbents on the ballot and elected two other new trustees in districts where the incumbents did not run. A fifth was replaced last month after she resigned during an embezzlement case. Five of the board's seven trustees are new.

That might slow progress. But it's troubling that one of the commission's continuing concerns is the lack of a trustee code of ethics.

The problems the district has faced in the past will not be cured overnight. But the time to begin working on them is before the sun gets any higher in the sky.


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