“The timeliness of the communication is very important,” he said.
Yesterday, Galvin S. Deleon Guerrero, NMC’s accreditation liaison officer and director of institutional effectiveness, reported about the progress of the report that will be submitted on Oct. 15 to the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.
By Sept. 23, Deleon Guerrero said, the board will see the first draft of the report.
He said they’ve work hard to meet the submission deadline for the follow-up report to ACCJC, adding that a workshop was conducted during which NMC President Sharon Hart talked about the importance of effective communications when dealing with accreditation.
Torres said he wants to know the timeline of the preparation and submission of the report so the board will have ample time to discuss it.
He asked if the information could be made available to the community as well.
Deleon Guerrero said the accrediting commission has a policy on public disclosure and confidentiality.
“There’s a proper time to make information public,” he added.
He said they do follow the timeline for the drafting and submission of the report.
“We provide timely communication and we have a very strict calendar in place,” he added.
Hart, for her part, assured the regents that they will be informed regarding the preparation of the report.
She said over 40 percent of the college faculty, staff and employees are involved in the accreditation process.
“We have a large participation, compared to other institution,” she added.
Regent Andrew Orsini said it is important for the board to be informed especially about information that might be “disturbing” to the college.
He said the board is fully responsible for the institution and deserves to know what’s going on.
Guerrero said they “hide nothing from the board.”
Regent Juan T. Lizama, who chairs the board, said he is not interested in “day-to-day observations.”
“I’m only interested in the final product and an opportunity for the board to discuss the issues,” he added.
He said effective communication does not require “voluminous” reports.
