Solano College remains under warning sanction

FAIRFIELD — Solano Community College remains under a warning sanction from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges despite progress the college has made to fix problems with student services, planning, ethics and student learning assessment.

Superintendent/President Jowel Laguerre got the letter Wednesday announcing the decision that the accrediting commission made at its January meeting. A warning is the lowest level of sanction that a community college could get.

“There remain several issues to address and we are certain that these mandates will be satisfied by the next ACCJC visit in October,” said Solano College Governing Board President Sarah Chapman in a statement. “Although we would have loved the sanction to be lifted completely, this is the best alternative news we could have received.”

Laguerre foreshadowed the letter’s arrival Monday with an afternoon meeting with college faculty members, laying out what the accrediting commission’s last report contained.

While Laguerre thanked the faculty and staff for all their work to fulfill the recommendations the commission set for Solano College last year, he also warned them to not let up their efforts, no matter what decision the commission made.

The letter stated that the college had made progress on all of the previous nine recommendations. Solano College met expectations when it came to better assessing student learning outcomes; improving using personnel to collect and report data to better plan and allocate college resources; and expanded its services to students at its two satellite centers in Vacaville and Vallejo.

The commission said more work needs to be done with regard to developing a clearly written code of ethics for college personnel, and creating a mission statement that will more appropriately describe who the college’s students are and stress the importance of their learning.

Laguerre was upbeat Despite having the warning sanction remain in place, calling it “very good news for the college.”

“We had a tight timeline and we accomplished so much that the commission has allowed us to continue to complete our work and has given us additional time to do so,” Laguerre said. “The majority of our issues have been fully resolved since the ACCJC visit. The college is clearly making the necessary progress to resolve all issues.”

The success of that will be determined later this year when the accreditation commission accepts a follow-up report from the college in October.

Solano College has been under a warning sanction for the past year. It had been free of any sanctions for a year until a commission inspection indicated the college slid back in the areas of having an integrated planning process and accomplishing proficiency in achieving student-learning outcomes.

The college’s accreditation problems go back to 2005, when the commission put Solano College on probation after it noted deficiencies in several areas that included finances, communication, student achievement, leadership and board relations. After several years of work, the college was removed from probation and other sanctions early in 2011.

Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or ithompson@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ithompsondr.

Ian Thompson

Ian Thompson has worked for the Daily Republic longer than he cares to remember. A native of Oregon and a graduate of the University of Oregon, he pines for the motherland still. He covers Vacaville and Travis Air Force Base for the Daily Republic. He is an avid military history buff, wargamer and loves the great outdoors.

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