For Immediate Release
February 5, 2009

Cañada College Accreditation Reaffirmed by Accrediting Commission

Educational master plan illustrates how college integrates its planning process.

Officials at College of San Mateo and Cañada College learned late Wednesday that their accreditation had been reaffirmed by Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (AACJC), Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Both colleges had been placed on warning in February 2008 following 2007 site visits by 11-member visiting teams from the ACCJC.  The visiting teams commended both colleges for their quality academic programs but cited several deficiencies related to compliance issues and institutional planning.

“The quality of our academic programs at our Colleges was never an issue with the visiting teams,” said Karen Schwarz, President of the Board of Trustees.  “Faculty and staff worked very hard to provide the missing data that the Commission requested and we are pleased with the result.”

To meet the recommendations of its visiting team report, Cañada College prepared an educational master plan illustrating how the college integrates all of its planning processes with its mission and goals.

“The visiting team asked us to make our planning process more clear. We had a great team working on this from the very beginning and there was great support and communication from all faculty and staff,” said Thomas Mohr, President of Cañada College.

“We are pleased about our reaffirmation,” said Michael Claire, president of CSM. “It means we complied with the visiting team’s recommendations to focus on our planning process and Educational Master Plan, expedite the completion of our student learning outcomes, and expand the identification of assessment strategies. I’d like to thank all those at CSM who worked so hard to make this happen.”

“We knew that, after the visit, the accreditation team was genuinely impressed with our vibrant environment and our extremely high degree of collaboration, cooperation, and collegiality,” Claire continued. “Furthermore, we were commended for our many innovative programs. The team also recognized the leadership of our student body for its spirited participation in college activities and governance.

For more information, contact Robert Hood, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, at hoodr@smccd.edu or 306-3340