Los Rios Colleges Accreditation Site Visits Scheduled for the Week of October 10, 2022
October 4, 2022
The Los Rios colleges are undergoing a regular and comprehensive review for reaffirmation of accreditation by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), an institutional accrediting body recognized by the Commission on Recognition of Post-secondary Accreditation and the U.S. Department of Education. The colleges most recently received reaffirmations of accreditation in January 2016.
Accreditation is a system of peer review in which educational institutions are held responsible for a set of requirements and standards to ensure the quality of education provided to students. The purposes of regional accreditation include encouraging institutions to improve academic quality, institutional effectiveness, and, ultimately, student success. Courses offered at an accredited institution generally are transferable to other institutions and qualify for financial aid.
The review follows a formative/summative model and takes place in two main portions. First, each college submitted an Institutional Self-Evaluation Report (ISER) to the commission in December 2021 with evidence of how the college meets the set standards and requirements. Second, there will be a focused site visit by select members of the review team to gather additional information via interviews, data requests, and meetings. Those focused site visits are scheduled for the week of October 10 through October 13, 2022.
As part of the focused site visits, community members are welcome to attend the all college open forums with the visiting teams scheduled for:
- American River College – Monday, October 10, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm, Student Center Community Rooms 1 and 2 or on ARC focused site visit on Zoom
- Cosumnes River College – Wednesday, October 12, 11:00 am, Winn 150 or on CRC focused site visit on Zoom
- Folsom Lake College – Wednesday, October 12, 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Main Folsom campus Community Room (Aspen Hall FL1-20)
- Sacramento City College – Monday, October 10, 2:00 to 3:00 pm, LR 105
Exit Reports with the visiting team are scheduled for:
- American River College – Wednesday, October 12, 9:00 to 10:00 am, Student Center Community Rooms 1 and 2 or on ARC exit report on Zoom
- Cosumnes River College – Thursday, October 13, 2:00 pm, Winn 150 or on CRC exit report on Zoom
- Folsom Lake College – Thursday, October 13, 10:00 to 10:30 am, Main Folsom campus Community Room (Aspen Hall FL1-20)
- Sacramento City College – Wednesday, October 12, 10:30 am, PAC 202
The ISER Reviews and Focused Site Visits will then inform the review teams' final reports. These reports will be reviewed by the commission to direct the decision on each of the college's reaffirmations. ACCJC will take action on the reports at their January 2023 meeting and the colleges expect to receive notice of its reaffirmations of accreditation soon after.