El Camino College—Compton Center

.....I hate to say it, but the arrogance, recklessness, and incompetence of certain powerful people in our district could finally do us in. Throughout our long Dark Age—starting in late 1996—I never really thought that that could happen. But now I do believe it.
.....As you know, not long ago, our accrediting institution—WASC/ACCJC—got spanked hard by the Department of Ed for not laying down the law. (See The Two Year Rule.) The upshot: things are different now. The Accreds are much more likely than ever to pull a college's accreditation.
.....Don't think so? Well, then you don't know your ass from a hole in the ground. Get a friggin' clue. (See Shasta warning and February Rostrum [the two-year rule].)
.....The ACCJC is under pressure to show that they really do mean business for once. In the meantime, the perennial California poster children for dysfunctional cc districts—two colleges with an eleven-year history of trustee micromanagement, administrative instability, and plagues of despair—have got to solve these problems by October of 2008 (that's when the progress reports are due). No more warnings. This is it. (BTW: an IVC dean announced her retirement today. She was set to replace Reb and my dean, who left the college in December.)
.....There's no one in this district who doesn't know what would turn everything around. —Except, of course, the people with all the power. —The people running our Accred effort. The people who won't fire you-know-who.

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.....I recently came upon an article about Compton Community College—the college that got its Accreditation ticket pulled a few years ago (it has been a satellite of El Camino College in Torrance since late 2006). The piece is entitled A short take on the death of an institution, by August Hoffman and Julie Wallach. It appeared a year ago in something called the Community College Enterprise. It's well worth reading.
.....Here are some excerpts:

.....Compton Community College was one of the oldest and most ethnically diverse community colleges in California. … First opening its doors in 1927, the college has served literally tens of thousands of students and has become a vital asset to the community. Within the last three to four years, however, the college has experienced several administrative and fiscal irregularities that gradually led to an independent investigation by outside auditing agencies..., warnings of accreditation problems, probation, and ultimately loss of accreditation all within two years time….
.....The old campus yearbooks during the 1940s and 1950s boast of first place championships in sports such as football and basketball. The campus was ranked among the top five community colleges in the state of California for academic excellence, teaching standards, and student enrollment. Compton Community College was perhaps the "crown jewel" of the state during its heyday of the 1940-1950s era….
.....…Compton Community College now holds the dubious distinction of being the only institution of higher education to have actually lost (de facto) its accreditation. … Certainly other schools have been placed on various lists such as "warning," "probation," or even "show cause"—but heretofore none had actually lost its accreditation. Until now.
…..
.....So it is with a heavy heart that I bear witness to the first closure of a community college in the United States due to "administrative" problems. I feel a tremendous amount of loyalty to an institution that I am still proud of. The faculty has always worked together. When things got bad, really bad, at this campus, it wasn't the administrators that corrected the problem but the faculty. The faculty still consider themselves de facto "family" and this sense of family transcends race, age, religion and gender. It is a powerful and attractive component that fuels my loyalty to the institution and helps faculty remain united in providing the best education possible ... united despite the friction, the frustration, and in spite of the negative publicity we have received in the last 18 months.
.....I am currently a professor at Compton Community College, soon to be referred to as El Camino College—Compton Center. …..
.....Nobody wants to believe that a school could actually close down—there are just too many potentially positive qualities about a school to allow anything like that to happen. That is what we wanted to believe. We were all in a state of numbness and profound denial. … Individuals associated with the school simply didn't want to believe that the school could (or would) eventually close. Concerned family members of mine would assure me and offer their support: "They can't close down a school. ... What are they going to do with it? Turn it into a prison?...." Comments regarding the accreditation problems were strikingly similar to what a patient suffering from a terminal illness might say: "They (i.e., the state accreditation committee) would never close us down" or "It's a scare tactic ... a bluff.”….
.....
.....… We mobilized ourselves to try to save the school. Committees were formed, surveys taken, and politicians consulted—to no avail. Ironically, the committees formed to save the college soon imploded and became divisive themselves. They were not able to gather enough support from the community. We were running out of time.
…..
.....… We negotiated with the ACCJC and WASC...—what, exactly, did they want? Student learning objectives? Done. Revised course curricula? Done. Improving course outlines? Done. Nothing worked. We tried making deals to at least return to "probationary" status—nothing doing. The clock was ticking as we frantically tried to resurrect our accreditation. … Some faculty began looking for other teaching positions. Some just continued to ignore the problem and hoped again that it would just go away.
…..
.....… I do believe that the faculty at Compton College has now accepted the fact that things as they once were can never exist again. That is probably a good thing. We have accepted our fate and are working to create a better institution. The faculty, I believe, will create a stronger institution for our community. We need to shape a new identity for ourselves with the assistance of a school with whom we will partner for the next several years. We are fortunate, I think, that El Camino College has extended its hand for the long run. We will work together as a united faculty in shaping a better educational institution so that some day in the future, we can re-establish Compton College with full accreditation.
……
.....As of Fall Semester 2006, the enrollment of full time equivalency students (FTEs) has plummeted from peaks of approximately 6,500 to 7,000 students just five years ago to less than 2,000 now. The significant drop cannot be surprising—the negative media, the newspaper write-ups about one scandal after another certainly has taken its toll. However, perhaps the biggest factor that has contributed to the loss of FTEs is the misperception that the campus has closed—it has not! We are a vibrant, accredited, and very much alive institution that is a critical element to the community of South Los Angeles. We will survive the challenge to meet the needs of our students and the community. The faculty at ECC-CC remains committed to serve the students. With every crisis brings an opportunity for growth, renewed spirit, and motivation. We have weathered a severe crisis and are regaining momentum to move ahead.

From the college website—“campus history”:

In June, 2005, … Dr. Barbara Beno informed the College of the Commission’s decision to terminate the College’s accreditation. … [Compton Community] College began its appeal to the Commission regarding the termination decision. ¶ … On June 30, 2006, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB 318 (D-Dymally) into law giving the College District $30 million loan for recovery and the opportunity to partner with a college of good standing to offer accredited courses…. ¶ On August 22, 2006, at the Board of Trustees meeting, the Special Trustee approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with El Camino College District to solidify the partnerships between the two districts. Under this MOU, the campus became a center of El Camino College. ... At midnight, Compton Community College lost its accreditation. ¶ On August 23, 2006, the Compton Community Educational Center officially became part of El Camino College with Dr. Doris P. Givens serving as the Provost/CEO.

See also Wikipedia on Compton Community College