News

College of the Redwoods was notified Friday that it has been placed on "show cause" accreditation status by the Accrediting Commission for Junior and Community Colleges (ACCJC), due to deficiencies that date back to 1999. The "show cause" sanction is the final step before losing accreditation.

In a letter to Interim Superintendent/President Uptal Goswami, the ACCJC outlined nine recommendations for coming back into compliance with standards. Judging from the recommendations, the deficiencies at CR are serious and wide-ranging -- from the measurement of student outcomes to distribution of course syllabi, insufficient employee evaluations and sub-par communication from the Board of Trustees.

The college will be required to submit a report documenting measures taken to address the deficiencies by October 15 of this year. If the college fails to demonstrate "consistent and reliable compliance" with ACCJC standards, it will lose its accreditation in January, 2013.

Here's the press release from CR:

College of the Redwoods received notice on Friday, Feb. 3 that it had been placed on "show cause" accreditation status by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC).

The Commission determined that CR has not addressed deficiencies in its institutional planning and student learning outcomes documentation, which are issues the college has been on notice to remedy since 1999.

While on show cause, CR remains fully accredited.  The ACCJC will bring an accreditation team visit team to CR in October 2012 to consider evidence that the college has met accreditation standards in the areas identified by the commission's most recent report.

Show cause is the most serious of the sanctions the ACCJC can impose on a college. It occurs when the ACCJC determines that an institution is in substantial non-compliance with its eligibility requirements.  CR must demonstrate by Oct. 15, 2012 that it has corrected the deficiencies noted by the commission.

CR will post the report and letter from the ACCJC regarding its accreditation status on the college's website, www.redwoods.edu.