“We are glad for this opportunity to showcase the accomplishments that students, staff and faculty have been able to accomplish in a short amount of time,” said NMC President Carmen Fernandez.
Wil Castro, NMC’s director of institutional effectiveness, said the college is “excited.”
“NMC is on solid ground when we make our case that greater communication between academic programs and support services is occurring to the improvement of student learning,” Castro said.
For Tee Abraham, dean of NMC’s Community Programs and Services, the visit provides the college an opportunity to prove how it has meet its priorities.
“The visit provides the college the opportunity to tell its story and to show evidence of how it is successfully using program review results to plan and establish institutional priorities,” Abraham said.
“NMC students will benefit greatly from all these improvements,” Abraham added.
But the college will be unable to comment specifically and publicly on any discussions they have with the visiting team until the team report is made public.
A press statement from the NMC president’s office said the primary purpose of the visit is to validate the contents of the show cause report submitted by the college on April 1.
The report provides details and examples regarding the college’s compliance with WASC’s Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges Team Recommendation 1, which deals with integrating planning, program review, and budgeting; and Team Recommendation 2, regading the institutionalization of the program review process.
The visiting team is composed of Dr. Sherrill Amador, ACCJC Commissioner and team chair, and Dr. Chris Myers, interim director of research and planning, Cerritos College.
NMC said the accrediting commission has already acknowledged and recognized the work that the college has done to comply with accreditation requirements that deal with student learning outcomes, employee evaluations, facility renovations and repair, and administrative capacity.
As a result, the college was not required to report on these issues in the April 1 show cause report.
The visiting team is scheduled to meet with various individuals and groups at NMC, including its regents, president, management team members, representatives of various NMC departments, members of the Staff Senate, the Faculty Senate, and the Associated Students of NMC, the College Council, the Budget and Finance Committee, and the Planning, Program Review and Outcomes Assessment Committee.
NMC said the visiting team’s observations and findings will be submitted directly to the full membership of the commission.
The next commission meeting will occur sometime in June.
At that meeting, the commission will make a decision on NMC’s accreditation status.
Fernandez said NMC remains accredited throughout the show cause period.
