Accreditation Report & Letter: The Work Continues

The expected has happened. City College has retained its accreditation, and the hard work of faculty leaders throughout the college is very clear in the Accrediting Commission’s report (see here).

There will be much negative sensationalizing around the warning letter (here) attached to this report, and that will be driven by those with external agendas. The truth is this report and warning letter confirm what we already knew: City College’s programs and services are a jewel in California’s public education system– thanks to the hard work of faculty and staff–but our institution is in need of stronger leadership.

Our college needs a new Chancellor who can work constructively and collaboratively with our constituency groups and Board of Trustees to ensure City College is meeting San Francisco’s demand for accessible higher ed degrees and workforce training. Our mission and future financial stability depend on it.

Departments with unmet demand should be expanded, and our new Chancellor should be an open and collaborative leader with a vision that puts students and the communities we serve at the very center. Cutting tenured faculty in fully enrolled programs from Chemistry, to Computer Networking, to English was a mistake.

It is time to move forward–to find a new Chancellor who can fully support our essential work of serving students.

Help Elect Pro-City College Candidates this Weekend

In seven weeks, a primary election will be occurring in San Francisco for the Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC), the governing body of San Francisco’s Democratic party. This election will have serious consequences for future Trustee elections and by extension the future of our college. In your recent contract negotiations, it was our Trustees working alongside your bargaining team who pushed the administration to recognize and meet the needs of faculty and programs.

We need to ensure that City College continues to have Board members who are similarly dedicated to faculty, to students, and to fulfilling our mission as a vital institution in this city.

Trustees Vick Chung and Anita Martinez, and former EOPS Counseling Chair Adolfo Velasquez, are three of the candidates running for seats on SF’s Democratic Committee, and this weekend, CCSF faculty are joining mobilizations to support their candidacies.  

We’ll be distributing literature in Excelsior, Bernal Heights, and the Richmond Saturday and Sunday at 10am. To sign up for supporting City College this weekend, enter your info here. A calendar of January events can be found here.