Week of October 28

Good afternoon, Colleagues.

Accreditation

Attached is a document provided by our ACCJC Peer Review Team listing the membership of the team, describing the process leading up to the writing of this document, and detailing the four Core Inquiries as determined by the team. As the report points out, "Core Inquiries are a means for communicating potential areas of institutional noncompliance, improvement, or exemplary practice that arise during the Team ISER Review." The team's Focused Site Visit will occur February 19-20. During this visit, they will conduct interviews, host a second Open Forum (this time in person), and then review any new or emerging issues emanating from the Core Inquiries discussions before writing their final report.

James Ortez and Jaclyn Rowley are gathering additional evidence in support of each Inquiry and finalizing a list of all who will be interviewed for each. The team made some suggestions of who could be included in the interview schedule. James and Jaclyn will assure that we have a cross-representative team of people for each Inquiry, including faculty, Classified Professionals, students, and administrators. Interviews will be scheduled based on the availability of those who have been identified for interviews as well as team availability. Please watch for more information on this.

Also, between now and the Focused Site Visit, the College has an opportunity to begin to address any gaps and to show the team how we plan to improve in noted areas. We will assure a discussion at College Council facilitated by James and Jaclyn about this report as well as possible plans to address some of the noted areas. You are all invited to attend that November 7 College Council meeting. If you are unable to attend, your representative from the Council can provide updates, and we will continue discussions at future meetings at College Council. We will allow for robust discussions of all areas noted in the attached report, and we welcome all feedback!

College Strategic Plan (2025-2029)

I hope you received the email last week about the College's undertaking of writing a new strategic plan. We are beginning this effort with a brief survey, a link for which was included in the email. If you are unable to locate the email, please contact Bonnie Boonthavongkham, who can re-send it. Here is a timeline for this work:

  • October 24 - November 7: Survey
  • November 21: Discussion of survey results at College Council
  • December 5 & January 16: Planning for College-wide workshops
  • January 31: College-wide workshops (we will host morning and afternoon on-campus, opportunities to allow for widespread participation)
  • February & March: Ongoing conversations at College Council and writing of draft plan
  • March & April: First and second reads of draft plan at Academic Senate, ASG, and Classified Senate
  • May 1 & May 15: Review and approval of plan at College Council
  • June: Review of plan at SCCCD Board meeting
  • July: Anticipated approval of plan at SCCCD Board meeting

This plan is important to determining our path forward, and your participation will be critical to helping identify that path. I hope you will take each opportunity to participate. We need everyone: full-time, part-time, provisional, temporary, permanent, Classified Professional, student, faculty, and administrator. I thank you in advance for your input!

Time Away

Finally, I am taking a personal trip to India and will be traveling October 31 through November 12. In my absence, VP of Administrative Services Kimberly Duong will serve as the administrator in charge. I am looking forward to my trip and especially to seeing family I have not seen for eight years! Wishing everyone a good week and a half while I am away. See you when I return.

All the Best,

Monica Chahal, Ed.D. (she/her)