Community colleges
under review

An accreditation team is checking
on steps UH has taken since it
was warned of flaws

Following up on a decision to put six campuses on a "warning" status, an accreditation team is visiting University of Hawaii community college campuses this week.

In January the Western Association of Schools and Colleges' Accrediting Commission for Community Colleges and Junior Colleges placed all UH community colleges except for Hawaii Community College on a warning status because of concerns over program review, governance and budgeting.

In a press release in February, the university noted that warning status is the mildest of sanctions levied by the ACCJC and that the accredited status of the community colleges continues.

The warning "represents a directive from the commission to an institution to 'correct its deficiencies, refrain from certain activities, or initiate certain activities,'" the release noted.

On Friday, UH Interim President David McClain sent a report to the ACCJC, outlining steps the university and the community colleges are taking to address the accrediting team's concerns.

The report notes that the university is instituting a review schedule so that instructional and noninstructional programs at the colleges are reviewed every five years.

It also notes that in 2002, as part of a reorganization under former President Evan Dobelle, the university and the Board of Regents eliminated the office of the senior vice president and chancellor for community colleges.

But in November 2004 the regents approved a new reorganization that created a vice chancellor for community colleges and new support positions.

The university is also reviewing salaries and policies for executives and the relationship between the UH system and individual community colleges.