More Complaints Pile On About SF City College Accreditation Overseeing Process
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A coalition working to preserve City College of San Francisco's accreditation announced two new complaints Monday against the commission with authority to revoke that accreditation, coalition members said.
The Save CCSF Coalition announced complaints by the California Federation of Teachers and a cohort of CCSF students, faculty and the public.
CFT's complaint, filed December 15, makes three allegations against the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, which could revoke CCSF's accreditation.
It says the ACCJC continues to violate federal requirements, "lacks the capacity, competence and knowledge to serve as a recognized, reliable accreditor," and has "procedures, policies and actions" that "adversely affect all California community colleges accredited by the ACCJC ... ."
The complaint by the cohort of students, faculty and the public alleges conflict of interest and bias among members of an ACCJC panel. That panel denied an appeal by the college to reverse a commission decision to pull the college's accreditation. The complaint was filed last month.
"City College offered me an affordable path for my dream of becoming a biomimetic materials scientist and I was thrilled with the excellence of instruction," said CCSF alumna and current graduate student Rose Lacy.
"City College deserves a fair accreditation process from an agency that actually cares about the quality of the education," Lacy said.
The new complaints offer evidence beyond what was revealed in the trial of a case between the City and County of San Francisco and the ACCJC, Save CCSF Coalition members say. A tentative ruling in that case is expected in January.
Save CCSF Coalition members say ACCJC Vice President Krista Johns told them that the commission would respond in 30 days to the complaint of bias and conflict of interest. Now the commission is saying it will combine both complaints and respond in early February.
The coalition says that ACCJC policy requires the commission to respond in 30 days, rather than holding off until February.
"I thought that what I heard come out in the trial was bad enough, but now I have to ask myself, is there no end to the malfeasance of the ACCJC," said retired CCSF math instructor Bie Tan.
