Saturday, February 28, 2009

Editorial's inaccuracy harms Delta College status

February 28, 2009 6:00 AM
The Record editorial of Feb. 20 titled "Time to get serious; Probation a prospect not to be taken lightly by Delta College" left me with several concerns.

The most important of these is your contention that San Joaquin Delta College has ignored or put off action on more than half the suggestions of the accrediting commission. This has no basis in fact. Significant efforts began immediately to address all 11 recommendations mentioned by the commission in its initial report in July, and these efforts continue today. The latest report from the commission contains only six recommendations and has allowed us to adjust our focus and to accelerate our responses to the remaining issues.

Make no mistake: Accreditation weighs heavily on everyone's mind at Delta College. While being placed on probation is indeed a serious matter, it nonetheless serves no positive purpose to suggest that anyone at Delta College is taking this issue lightly.

Further, I find it dispiriting that The Record correctly printed in an article by Alex Breitler on Feb. 18 that the college Board of Trustees took definitive action to resolve a key accreditation issue: namely, to establish and adopt a code of ethics governing their actions. Then, two days later, The Record inexplicably wrote in an editorial that the Board of Trustees had failed to adopt a code of ethics.

While such inaccuracies may appear insignificant to your editorial board and perhaps even to those who read your paper, you may find it interesting to note that a contributing factor to the accrediting commission's decision to place the college on probation had to do with its continuing examination of local media coverage as it pertains to the Delta College Board of Trustees.

The November election resulted in the replacement of four of seven seats on the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees. Since that time, another seat has been vacated and filled. The five new board members are working diligently with the two remaining members on a wide variety of inherited challenges as well as current issues raised by the financial crisis facing California and the rest of the country.

At Delta College, we recognize and support the media's responsibility to shine the light of public scrutiny on the operations of public agencies. When we err, we stand ready to accept any deserved criticism for our actions. However, given the seriousness of the college's accreditation situation, it is more important now than ever before that The Record's coverage of these issues be both accurate and fair.

Raúl Rodríguez
Superintendent/president, San Joaquin Delta College

» NOTE: We erred in our editorial. The news story of Feb. 18, "Delta College placed on probation by peer group," does indeed say the new Board of Trustees has adopted a code of ethics.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

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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