It’s been a challenging 13 months for Monterey Peninsula College, after it was announced in February 2017 that its accreditation was on the line, with one year to fix numerous deficiencies.
The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges told MPC it was out of compliance with 17 different standards, and had five additional recommendations the commission wanted the college to meet by March 15, 2018.
It put MPC on a two-year probation while the college fixed issues, followed by a reassessment.
Parallel to that major challenge, the MPC Teachers Association grew increasingly vocal in its opposition to the leadership of MPC President/Superintendent Walt Tribley, who faculty members blamed for the college’s problems.
The biggest sticking point for the MPCTA, however, was that the faculty have been working without a contract for five years at salaries lower than most other California community colleges, and attempts to reach an agreement have failed.
The latest negotiation attempt was in February with the aid of a state mediator, but that also failed, according to MPCTA negotiators.
After meeting for more than 10 hours on Feb. 6, negotiations were postponed because MPC administrators said they wouldn’t agree to salary increases until the state announces a revised community college budget in May.
A month later, administrators and members of the Board of Trustees were all smiles, however, after finally hearing some good news from Tribley on March 13: MPC successfully fixed all 22 issues raised by the commission before the deadline.
“Superhuman” was the word Tribley used to describe staff efforts, at a special board meeting two days before the deadline.
The issues that needed to be addressed included balancing the budget—without borrowing from one-time or other funds—said Kiran Kamath, vice president of academic affairs and the college’s accreditation liaison officer, told Board of Trustees.
This year’s 2017-18 budget—balanced without borrowing—was passed last September by the board.
Other recommendations MPC administrators believe are now met include assessing the student learning outcomes for almost 1,000 courses offered by the college.
Kamath said 90 percent of the total number of courses were assessed; those not assessed included courses that will no longer be offered.
The college also implemented an enrollment management system, beefed up its network security, updated all board policies and administrative procedures, and created a new Office of Planning, Research and Institutional Effectiveness.
In addition, services to students at the Marina Education Center and the Public Safety Training Center in Seaside were expanded, which included the hiring of a new Dean of Student Services-Marina.
In all, the college added three new dean positions to its administration, created a Vice President of Advancement and filled two director positions left vacant since a fiscal crisis in 2009—safety and emergency preparedness and marketing and communications.
Expanding MPC’s administration is a bone of contention with the faculty union, which has complained that faculty salaries remain static while administration costs continue to grow.
For now, administrators say they’re moving forward with the changes put in place and look forward to a positive report from the ACCJC, which has the final say.
“It’s now up to all of us to continuously improve and sustain meeting all the standards moving forward, “ Kamath said.
Trustee Charles Brown said he’s proud of the staff’s accomplishment, but admitted he had doubts one year ago they would be able to meet all the standards by the deadline.
“I don’t know why I ever doubt anything that comes out of this place,” Brown said.
ACCJC representatives are scheduled to visit the campus on April 9. A formal decision by the commission as to whether it agrees MPC has met all recommendations is due in June.