Accreditation Team Makes Second Inspection of Irvine Valley College

Irvine Valley College officials say they have cleaned up the problems that led to a scathing report by an accreditation panel early this year.

On Thursday, two members of the accreditation team were on campus to see for themselves.

In particular, they wanted to know if the school’s governance procedures--which drew considerable fire from the Western Assn. of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges--had been improved to allow for more faculty input with less micromanagement from South Orange County Community College District’s trustees.

The accrediting commission’s inspection team, Yuba College President Stephen Epler and Bakersfield College professor Jack Hernandez, met with Irvine Valley administrators, district officials, faculty and staff. Their task, said the commission’s executive director, David Wolf, is to verify a report submitted by Irvine Valley College President Raghu Mathur that outlines the school’s response to earlier criticism.

Irvine Valley and Saddleback, the district’s other community college, were both reaccredited in February, but with conditions: Both were required to submit follow-up status reports. Two other commission members made a similar on-site evaluation at Saddleback on April 22. The two teams will report back to the full commission, which will vote once again on the schools’ respective accreditation in early June.

“I feel positive,” Mathur said after his visit with the evaluation duo. “I’m hopeful that they will consider all the input and act upon our accreditation status favorably.”

Some on the faculty, however, are not convinced.

“It was a whitewash,” English professor Kate Clark said of Mathur’s follow-up report.

“There has not been a hire here since you left that has followed process,” Clark told the two commission representatives.