Accrediation team visits PC

An accreditation team, consisting of faculty, administrators and district office personnel from various community colleges in California, will be on the Porterville College campus through Thursday to validate the information obtained from the school’s “Self Evaluation.”

“The members of this team are not investigators, but fellow colleagues who are here to assist the college in our continued efforts to meet the accreditation standards and improve our learning and support services to students,” said Maureen Montgomery, spokes person for Porterville College.

During the week, members of the team will meet with individuals on campus and attend scheduled committee meetings, that begin with an orientation Monday.

A formal Exit Interview will be held at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, during which the college will be informed of the findings, and recommendations about the status of accreditation — that will be determined by the Commission in January — will be offered.

By policy, the chair of the accreditation team will not take any questions from the audience nor have any other team members make any comments.

According to the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, the primary purpose of an accredited institution is to foster learning in its students.

“An effective institution maintains an ongoing, self-reflective dialogue about its quality and improvement,” Montgomery said. “The self study provides the Commission with the institution’s assessment of itself as a whole. The institutional mission provides the impetus for achieving student learning and other goals that the institution endeavors to accomplish.”

A college wide dialogue that integrates the elements of the Standards provides the complete view of the institution that is needed to verify integrity and to promote quality and improvement, she said.

The visit is the culmination of close to two years of work for more than 100 PC staff involved with the Self Evaluation.

Visit http://portervillecollege.edu/accreditation/index.html to see the self-evaluation online.