College Getting Back on Track: Hartnell: Officials Work to Satisfy Accrediting Board

By Claudia Melendez Salinas, The Monterey County Herald, Calif.

Jul. 10–Like all of the members in her study group, Michelle Gaba-Ronque has been concerned about the status of Hartnell College, which last month was put on probation by the Western Association of Colleges and Universities.

But unlike many of her classmates, who attend classes at night and work during the day, she’s a stay-home-mom, so she had more flexibility to attend Monday’s forum intended to assuage community concerns.

She was not disappointed.

The meeting “went really well,” the 26-year-old student said. “This president seems proactive and approachable.”

At the second forum organized to speak about the college’s status, Hartnell leaders presented a united front to pinpoint what they are doing or planning to do to address the concerns of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.

Phoebe Helm, interim president and superintendent, told a group of about 80 teachers, students and community members that the biggest concern of students is whether their education is now accredited.

“The answer is yes,” Helm said. For at least two years, while the college works to remove its probation status, the school is fully accredited.

The first big test will come Oct. 15, when the college is expected to present evidence that the board of trustees has completed an ethics policy and training focused on appropriate behavior, roles and responsibilities.

The commission will also look at the college’s plan to get everyone involved in resolving six of the concerns spelled out in its report.

“They want to know how well you write in your history class,” Helm said, explaining the finer details of the report. “They’ll be looking how you apply your sciences in your nursing classes. How are you using that information?”

The accreditation team made seven recommendations to the college, which included developing a professional ethics code for all personnel to work cooperatively; a plan for program review, planning, budgeting and hiring; a plan to address the needs for staffing and maintenance in the new buildings as well as technology support in new and existing buildings; a process to measure student achievement; a revision of all course outlines; and a long-term plan to stabilize college finances and enrollment.

Following the first report, the accreditation team is expected to visit the campus again. At its January meeting, the team could decide the college is making good progress toward removing its probationary status or it could raise the bar.

“We don’t expect that to be a problem,” Helm said. “This community has demonstrated their love for this college time and time again.”

Also showing their willingness to turn the college around for the better were Aaron Johnson, chairman of the board of trustees; Ann Wright, president of the Hartnell College Faculty Association; Jennifer Fellguth, president of the Academic Senate; Margie Wiebusch, president of the California School Employees Association at Hartnell; and Tammy Sharp de Avalos, president of the Classified Senate.

Fellguth told the crowd that teachers have already begun working on revising the school catalog to purge classes that are no longer offered and update curriculum, one of the recommendations of the accrediting team.

Trustee Bill Freeman wanted to talk about how the college predicament could be traced to Ed Valeau, the superintendent who headed the college for the last 12 years and retired last month.

But Helm asked him not to continue.

“We’re not in the business to blame,” Helm said. “It’s only the future that we can fix. Any looking back is wasted energy on our part.”

Freeman yielded to Helm’s request, and the crowd applauded.

Paul Fuller, a 19-year-old business major at the school, attended the forum with his parents, who spoke about their concerns for the school’s status.

He said he felt confident about people’s willingness to work together to fix its troubles.

“I was still a little surprised by the … blaming,” he said. “There’s no need for finger-pointing.”

Gaba-Ronque, the nursing student, said she was getting phone calls during the meeting from her classmates who wanted to know what happened in the meeting. Many have expressed a desire to transfer to Monterey Peninsula College, something Gaba-Ronque’s unwilling to do because the course requirements are different and she doesn’t want to feel her education has gone to waste.

Besides, she wants to stick by her college, an institution that has educated many of her relatives and friends.

“We need to stick to our community,” she said. “My husband grew up here, we decided to stay here to raise our family. Sometimes you just don’t give up.”

Claudia Melendez Salinas can be reached at 753-6755 or cmelendez@montereyherald.com.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Monterey County Herald, Calif.

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