On Monday, September 12, 2011, Mt. San Jacinto College hosted a Mock Accreditation Site Visit to prepare for the October 17th-20th ACCJC Site Visit. During the Mock Site Visit, a team of eleven external/internal peers reviewed the entire Self Study, examined in detail each standard, and provided feedback on all areas of the report to Executive Cabinet leadership (Superintendent/President and Vice Presidents), the Accreditation Liaison Officer, and the Tri-Chairs for reach of the MSJC ACCJC Standard Committees. The Mock Site Visit process allowed for an honest assessment of our strengths, weaknesses, and areas of improvement by some phenomenal community college leaders.
Some of the findings/recommendations/commendations from the Mock Site Visit Team members included the following:
- Overall presentation of the Self Study was impressive.
- Easy to Read
- Well organized
- Strong documentation/evidence links
- Links to evidence organized and were functional
- Cliff Notes outstanding resource and tool
- Minor typographical errors throughout the document
- Statistics were well presented
- Great write-up on the Institutional Effectiveness and Program Review section
- Commendations to the district for the improvements made since the last Self Study
- Commendations to the district for a well articulated Program Review process/flow charts/ graphs/ manual
- Commendations to the district for a strong planning process with an integrated resource allocation structure/model
- The Self Study illustrated that MSJC is a team of loyal and creative individuals that infused their energy and expertise
- Encourages all staff to read the Self Study “FAST” and “Holistically”
- Prepare students to participate in the site visit
- Know that the Site Visit Team has previously met and received training; however they are coming to the district from all different perspectives. Some are novices and other have multiple site visit team experiences. Some are not going to be adequately prepared.
- Know and understand the whole self study. Don’t focus on one section – read the entire document quickly and holistically
- Ensure that BOT members are engaged and knowledgeable about the Self Study, in particular Standard IV.
Mock Site Visit Team members
Mock Site Visit Chair
Dr. Richard Giese
Interim Superintendent/President
Taft College
Mock Site Visit Team Members
Dr. Robert Pacheco
Director of Research
Barstow College
Dr. Ann W. Tomlinson
Vice President of Administrative Services
Los Angeles Harbor College
Dr. Lisa Conyers
Vice President of Instruction
Moreno Valley College
Dr. Joseph Davis
Human Resources Consultant
Dr. Mary Gallagher
Vice President, Administrative Services
Los Angeles Trade Tech College
Mock Site Visit Team Members – Internal
Dr. Dennis Anderson
Vice President, Instructional Services
Dr. Bill Vincent
Vice President, Student Services
Karin Marriott
Director of Public Information and Marketing
Dr. Nancy Napolitano
Interim Dean of Instruction, Academic Programs San Jacinto Campus
Beth Gomez
Dean, Business Services