Accreditation Panel Defers Pierce Renewal

In a rare move, a community college oversight commission has privately warned Pierce College in a scathing report that continuing financial, enrollment and leadership problems threaten its accreditation.

The study by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges berated Pierce for its failure to hire and retain administrators in key positions and expressed alarm at the school’s inaction in the face of an enrollment decline from 24,000 students in 1982 to fewer than 14,000 today.

“It is frightening to learn that the college . . . [has] made very little effort to market the college and recruit students,” said the report, which was prepared after discussions with 578 Pierce students, faculty, staff and administrators in April. “There appears to be a serious mismatch between what the college offers and what students need.”

While the commission--an arm of the Western Assn. of Schools and Colleges, a privately run higher-education oversight organization--found some evidence of optimism among a handful of leaders at the school, it found that “too many others on the staff appeared to have simply given up.” Adding to the misery, it found that the school’s “financial future is uncertain [and] reserves almost nonexistent.”

Equally irksome to the accreditation commission was its discovery that its past recommendations that Pierce set goals and timelines to address deficiencies have gone unheeded.

“The college cannot continue to defer action,” said the report.

Carmelita Thomas, Pierce’s acting vice president of academic affairs, said that schools “rarely pass evaluations with flying colors” and added that the report “tells us that there are certain areas that need to be addressed.”

Colleges face reaffirmation of their accreditation every six years. If it is revoked, a school’s students lose eligibility for federal financial aid, and four-year institutions may deny them admittance.

The commission’s actions fall far short of that. Rather, it declined to reaffirm Pierce’s accreditation until the school adequately confronts its problems.

In contrast, accreditations at the two other Los Angeles Community College District schools in the San Fernando Valley--Mission College in Sylmar and Valley College in Van Nuys--were reaffirmed with minor conditions.

John Petersen, executive director of the commission based in Aptos, Calif., said his organization defers reaffirmation of only one or two colleges of the 25 to 30 it considers each year. But he expressed understanding of the difficulties faced by schools like Pierce.

“It doesn’t mean their accreditation status is in any kind of immediate danger. It just puts some of our recommendations in bold,” he said. “These are tough times in higher education. Institutions are struggling with a great many things, from finances to changing student demographics.”

Pierce’s acting president, Mary Lee, could not be reached for comment, but Thomas said the school has already made progress in addressing many of the committee’s concerns. For example, she said, the school persuaded 48 instructors to take early retirement last spring to save money on salaries. And she said the school has established a committee that will soon begin interviewing candidates to fill Lee’s position, and her own, with permanent administrators.

In addition, Thomas said the school hired a campus researcher in July to study demographic trends to determine how well the school is serving the community’s needs. It has also begun eliminating obsolete programs such as metal shop while updating its floristry program to better suit the job market.

Tom Johnson, chairman of the Pierce College Council, which advises the president on educational and fiscal affairs, blamed the school district for not providing funds the school needs to make improvements and for not giving the school more independence to solve its problems.

“So much of it depends on the district--and to date, we’re really not getting much response from Downtown,” said the philosophy professor.

Some students expressed concern about the accreditation situation.

“It’s scary,” said Cory Fulton, an engineering student who hopes to eventually transfer to a four-year college. “I thought about going to other colleges to finish my program, because if this school becomes unaccredited, I can’t transfer.”

A commission spokesperson said the organization has never withdrawn accreditation from a public school. The worst sanction appears to have been directed at Compton Community College, which was recently placed on probation, then reinstated.

Petersen said the commission has deferred accreditation for other Los Angeles community colleges in the past.

The panel’s report was not entirely negative. It commended Pierce for numerous improvements, including the organization of its student services under one dean, the high level of satisfaction among students, the ethnic diversity of the student body and the school’s near-completion of a joint venture to create a golf driving range.

But the commission castigated Pierce on many issues, including the lack of a plan for using and coordinating computers on campus, its lack of clear strategies for enrollment, class scheduling or curriculum, its failure to conduct program reviews in the past year and its lack of “clear educational vision, mission and measurable goals.”

It also urged the school to re-evaluate its graduation requirements, strengthen its commitment to education beyond that required by students who simply want to transfer to four-year schools, offer more English classes for non-native speakers and improve the condition of its parking lots.

At the management level, the commission expressed concern that the college “is experiencing a lack of confidence in the administration” because it had cycled through six presidents in the past 10 years.

It also upbraided Pierce for not following previous recommendations that it attempt to raise money by increasing student health-services fees to $10 from $7.50 and by selling instruction under contract to nearby businesses. It noted that just one such job has been undertaken--a $15,000 contract with Costco.

Finally, the commission recommended that Pierce take more responsibility for developing its own budget, controlling its costs, pursuing more external sources of funding and create more joint ventures to make better use of its impressive land and faculty.

The school must respond to these concerns in written reports to the commission by May 1, 1996, and Nov. 1, 1997.

Markman and Chandler are Times staff writers. Manning is a correspondent.