Shoreline Community College has received 15 “commendations” after a recent visit by a national college accreditation team. The average number of commendations, or “recognitions for areas of excellence” a college receives is four, school officials said.
“This is a ‘pat-on-the-back,’ as I call it,” said college spokesperson Judy Yu.
Some of the commendations the college received from the team include credit for their dedication to their mission statement and goals, efforts to employ workforce development for students and for the college’s new Library Technology Center.
The accreditation process for educational institutions such as Shoreline Community College happens every 10 years, and requires two years of self-study and an intense multiple-day visit from the accreditation team, made up of volunteers from colleges in the Northwest.
Each aspect of the college, such as areas of strength, significant progress and growth and improvement, are compared to a set of “generally accepted standards.” The result is a detailed summary of the college’s strengths and weaknesses. If the college passes and maintains or earns their accreditation status, it can help students get financial aid, transfer more credits from other schools and can help the college to get grant funding.
“It sets a standard that these funders understand and compare us and other colleges against,” Yu said. “And it seems to be a traditional measure with which colleges and universities measure themselves against. “
“It’s a great process, a lot of teamwork is at play,” Yu said. “And at the end of it, we come out with a road map of things we really need to work on.”
Some of the areas the college has highlighted for improvement include budget development, refining current administrative and committee structures and continuing to update the campus and its technology.
The self-study portion of the accreditation process has given the college a lot of insight to areas that may need improvement, Yu said, but has also reflected their internal strength as a whole.
“There’s been commendations made that we’ve had some scandal over the last few years, and the strength of the college has outshined those scandals,” Yu said.
In 1999 the college signed an illegal contract with e-Werkz to provide an online bookstore and registration program, then college president Gary Oertli quit to go work for the company. In October, a professor resigned amidst a state investigation that he used his school computer to view pornography.
Yu said that even though the process brought a lot of good ideas and has fostered some improvements around the college, they are relieved the process has come to an end.
“A lot of work went into it, everybody had a part in the process,” she said. “but we’re really relived.”
The final report from the accreditation team will be available in early January.
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