3 Colleges Plan for Next 6 Years

As the crush of students returned to campus this week, administrators at the three San Fernando Valley community colleges prepared to set goals and discuss challenges for the next six years.

During the planning process this fall, officials at Pierce, Valley and Mission colleges will set a general course for facilities, budgets, faculty and academics. The study is required of all accredited schools in the country every six years.

Once the plans are written, separate teams of college administrators and teachers from the outside will study the plans and make suggestions, Pierce College President Lowell Erickson said.

Although the process is designed to help college planners set their own agendas, the findings may also prove helpful in underscoring the colleges’ financial needs, Erickson said.

“When we’re talking about how to accomplish the goals we set, we’re often talking about money,” Erickson said. “This study could help us get the message across to the (district) trustees or the state that these institutions have severe financial problems, and their ability to do the job for which they were established is being hampered.”

Teams of teachers and administrators will visit each campus next spring to study the plans and operations at the schools. Their suggestions will be turned over to college officials and the Western Assn. of Schools and Colleges, one of six regional associations in the nation that renew the accredited status of learning institutions.