Alternative education programs offered by the Monterey County Office of Education have received the stamp of approval by the Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Accreditation by WASC, as it's usually referred to, certifies that the schools meet the required criteria that demonstrates to students their studies will be accepted elsewhere.

The programs offered by the Alternative Education Department reach students across Monterey County. Students who attend Alternative Education Programs are foster/homeless youth, students on inter-district transfers, youth who have been referred by probation, or students who were expelled from their home district. Full service programming and support are offered to all students, including in-house social workers, mental health counselors, and aides in every classroom who help providing individualized instruction. Each program is unique so needy students with can be successful and prepared for college and careers after high school.

Alternative Education Programs include:

Salinas Community Schools
Rancho Cielo Silver Star Program
Silver Star Center, Independent Studies Program
South County Independent Studies Program
Warner Davis Program
Innovative Arts Technology Pathway
Sea Air Fire Earth Transportation Pathway
 MCOE Court Schools
Wellington M. Smith, Jr. School
Salinas Valley Education Center

Hartnell to celebrate full accreditation

From 12 to 2 p.m. Friday, September 18. They'll have Strawberry Shortcake and ice cream.

Two years after being put on probation, Hartnell College regained full accreditation in July. Accreditation is granted by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, and it signified that students can trust the education they receive at Hartnell will be transferable and accepted in other institutions of higher learning.

College officials will gather at the Student Center at 12:30 p.m. They'll hear from Board President Erica Padilla Chavez; President of the Academic Senate Carol Kimbrough; a CSEA representative; and President Willard Lewallen.

Hartnell to update community members on accreditation status

Hartnell College administrators will host two town hall meetings to update the community on efforts to address the 12 accreditation recommendations by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.

The meetings are open to the public and will take place:

From 3:45 to 4:45 p.m., Thursday, September 12, at Hartnell King City Education Center, 117 N. Second Street, King City.

From noon to 1 p.m., Monday, September 16, at Hartnell College Main Campus, Steinbeck Hall, 411 Central Avenue, Salinas.

The town hall meetings will provide community members with an opportunity to answer questions or express concerns. Presenters will include Hartnell College Superintendent/President Willard Lewallen, Vice President of Academic Affairs Lori Kildal, and Academic Senate President, Tony Anderson.

For the second time in six years, Hartnell College was put on probation by the Western Association of School and Colleges earlier this year after a recommendation by an independent team of educators.

A probationary statue is issued when the reviewing team finds the college is not meeting all accreditation requirements. Hartnell remains accredited while on probation .

For more information on accreditation status, visit Hartnell’s website.

Getting 'slammed' by a Monterey Peninsula College supporter

A gentle reader took me to task for "slamming" Monterey Peninsula College in a story I wrote about its proposed $2.5 million budget cut. You can find the story here, but here's the gist of it: The college has been flagged by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges because of its finances,  citing its declining enrollment, and excessive salaries/benefits packages.

The reader first challenged me for distorting the words of the ACCJC, saying the "excessive declining in enrollment" was my interpretation.

So there's no shadow of a doubt of what the ACCJC said in its letter, here it is, for your reading pleasure. And my apologies, I should have posted it up sooner.

 The gentle reader goes on to say that declining enrollment at MPC is due to many, complicated factors -- hinting that I should have expounded on those. True enough, I'm aware of the complications, and I plan to address those in a future article.

I'll take it a bit further. The decline in enrollment is not just at MPC, but nationwide. According to a report released by the US Census Bureau, college enrollment nationwide in 2012 plunged by half a million (467,000) from one year earlier. This decline, which includes both graduate and undergraduate enrollment, follows a period of substantial growth ─ 3.2 million ─ between 2006 and 2011.

The decline was driven by older students, those 25 and older. Their enrollment fell by 419,000, while the enrollment of younger students declined by 48,000.

Those among you who know MPC well know its student body has a significant percentage of "life long learners" or older students. Since the decline was seen most sharply among the older population, it only follows that MPC was significantly affected.

Now, the question is, how will MPC tackle this challenge? Stay tuned.

Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges in the hot seat

Oh oh. It looks like the tables have turned for the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, the group in charge of reviewing whether schools and colleges have good practices in place to make sure students have a fruitful educational experience. Now it turns out the U.S. Department of Education notified the commission on Wednesday that it is out of compliance in several areas related to its sanctioning of City College of San Francisco.

The accreditation commission voted recently to strip City College of San Francisco of its accreditation. It also decided to put Hartnell College on probation, the second time in six years to do so.

According to a letter from the U.S. Department of Education, the commission must take “immediate steps” to avert the suspension or termination of its federal recognition as an accrediting body, according to a report in Inside Higher Ed.

It is unclear what this letter means for City College of San Francisco, and even muddier what it means for Hartnell. We should find out...

Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges visits Hartnell

Barbara Beno and Susan Clifford, president and vice president of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, will make a presentation to the Hartnell Board of Trustees at 5 pm. today, July 16.

Beno and Clifford will focus their presentation on accreditation standards and the role the trustees play in the accreditation process. The meeting will take place in Building B, room 208 of Hartnell, 411 Central Ave., Salinas. 

Hartnell was placed on probation earlier this month by the ACCJC. The college community will have to address 12 recommendations in the upcoming two years to have its probationary status lifted. While on probation, the school remains fully accredited, so the students education is not in jeopardy.

The college has put together answers to frequently asked questions. You can see them here and here.

Accreditation team visit to Hartnell College completed

A team from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges concluded a visit to Hartnell last Thursday, and before departing, they issued five commendations and 12 recommendations, according to Spokeswoman Terri Pyer.

The college was commended for its cooperative spirit in making necessary changes, for offering unique and innovative programs, for providing architecturally interesting and inviting learning spaces, and for the innovative use of physical resources in King City and at the Alisal Campus. Its foremost commendation went to the president of the college, Willard Lewallen, who was praised for assessing the institution's needs immediately upon arrival on July 1, 2012.

Among the team's recommendations to the college were to develop processes to evaluate its mission regularly; to develop comprehensive planning processes, including strategic and annual plans; to standardize student learning results, service learning results and program-level results, and provide training for staff on how to accomplish this; to improve staff evaluation processes; to develop and implement a stable administrative structure; and to evaluate its participatory governance model. The team noted that much of this work has been started at the college, but that the college must continue this work and complete the planning and assessment cycle.

Over the next few months, the team will provide its commendations and recommendations to the college in a written report, inviting the college to respond to any factual errors. Then the report will be forwarded to the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. The commission will meet in June to consider all of the evidence submitted to it, including the college's self-evaluation and the report of the visiting team, and will issue its decision on the college's accredited status.

Accreditation is a voluntary system of self-regulation of schools and colleges developed to evaluate overall educational quality. The process provides assurance to the public that each accredited college meets the standards for a degree-granting institution of higher education. Every six years, institutions renew the process, which includes completing a self-evaluation and being reviewed by a visiting team to determine whether the college meets standards related to institutional mission and effectiveness, student learning programs and services, the effective use of resources, and leadership and governance. The accreditation cycle requires reaffirmation of accreditation every six years.

Accreditation team visits Hartnell College

** UPDATE **

The accreditation team has changed the time it will present its preliminary findings. The presentation has been changed to noon on Thursday, March 21, at noon, in Steinbeck Hall in main campus.
As part of the normal six-year accreditation cycle of the Accrediting Commission of Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), Hartnell College will host a site visit by an accreditation team from March 18 through March 21, 2013.


The site visit is one part of the accreditation process for making sure schools and colleges are doing their job.

The process also includes a detailed self-evaluation report. Hartnell’s self-evaluation report is online and can be accessed here.

The team will host several open forums to provide an opportunity for employees, community members, and students to share information or ask questions. These open forums are scheduled as follows:

Tuesday, March 19
4-5- p.m.
Steinbeck Hall, Main Campus

Wednesday March 20
9:30-10:30 a.m.
Center for Advanced Technology (room C107), Alisal Campus

1-2 p.m.
Merrill Hall (room M-1)
Main Campus

2-3 p.m.
King City Education Center

The team will present its preliminary findings at a public forum on Thursday, March 21, at 2 p.m., in Steinbeck Hall in main campus.