Lake Tahoe Community College shines during accreditation team visit

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The accreditation team visiting Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) left town Thursday, but not before speaking to a gathering of the school's administration, staff, students, board members and community partners.

"You guys do a great job," said Mike Claire, President at College of San Mateo and leader of the visiting accreditation team from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC). "We have never found a college more well prepared than LTCC."

Claire and his group, which is comprised of teachers and administrators from other western community colleges, spent this week visiting LTCC, meeting with staff, students, the board of trustees and community members.

But the process is a much more detailed one than visiting a college for a few days. LTCC has been involved in a self-study for two years, and then created required documentation to present to the visiting team.

"They help us see what we're doing well, and what we can improve," said LTCC Superintendent/President Jeff DeFranco.

The team from ACCJC shared their preliminary observations in front of those gathered at the Duke Theatre. They will then gather their notes and prepare a report in the next ten days that is sent to ACCJC. They will then review the report and send it to DeFranco for review prior to submitting it to the commission on December 1. This Commission is made up of 19 members who are elected by ACCJC member institutions and comprises the Board of Directors of ACCJC. They will then take action during their January, 2018 meeting and their final report on the LTCC accreditation is released in early February, 2018.

There were no concerns expressed Thursday as they shared the things LTCC does really well, and a few items for recommended improvement.

Claire said the school had zero non-compliance recommendations and met all standards.

The ACCJC Commission will be the ultimate deciding factor on these points, but Claire shared nine things the college does very well (though he said there were many others):

1) A sense of community and family, the feeling that everyone is in this together;
2) Exemplary relationship with the community. The college is seen by many as "the hub of the community." Programs that highlight this connect=ion are the Incarcerated Student program, high school outreach and deep partnership which is "an incredible path for students," ADVANCE program, career and technical education programs, and the fact that the community is not divided by the state line;
3) Students have an effective voice and programs and services are designed around their input;
4) Governance Handbook was impressive;
5) SLO (Student Learning Outcomes) process and guidelines;
6) Technology used effectively with open communication and the use of the Coyote Corner app;
7) Use and design of facilities are done in an "intelligent way;"
8) Clean and welcoming campus;
9) Long track record of fiscal responsibility and managing the college well with balance, strategies and business plans to stay on track.

Claire and his team did come up with suggested recommendations, again, not finalized until the Commission's report is released in February, 2018.

1) Quality Focus: Integrate the planning process and execute the plan, one he said is a good plan.
2) Think about ways to better document decisions;
3) SLO (Student Learning Outcomes): He said there is good movement at the course level and keep it going. Build out the assessment on learning outcomes. The SLO takes three years of data and the school was near the 95 percentile for outcomes this last school year, but when averaged in with previous data they show a lower figure;
4) Better align outcomes at the library and learning resource center.

"Kudos for being a leader in online education," added Claire. He did suggest a more formalized beginning of the program.

The last suggestion Claire and his team had was for expansion of learning and support services for those that cannot make it to campus. He did say LTCC has done a wonderful job with off-site learning.

DeFranco thanked the LTCC team as well as the college's former president, Dr. Kindred Murillo for the successful review. She left the campus at the end of 2016 to move to Southern California where she is superintendent/president of Southwestern College in Chula Vista. This current accreditation process began when she was at LTCC. He also thanked the community for the passage of Measure F which has provided funds for improvements at the school.

DeFranco reminded all that LTCC is "small but mighty," something the visiting team saw as well as those who are part of the community college.