General Recommendations:

      1. The team recommends that the college retain the services of an independent financial advisory firm to review and evaluate the financing strategies of the college. Although the district's auditors identified no exceptions in their report with regard to the college's long-term debt, the team was unable to verify a plan for paying off the long-term debt incurred by the use of Certificates of Participation. The resulting report should include the history of financial indebtedness of the district, the current level of indebtedness, and the district plans for repayment. This advisory team should have expertise in Certificates of Participation, investing, and auditing. A report of the findings should be submitted to the ACCJC no later than a year from the date of acceptance of this report and recommendations by the accrediting commission. (Standard 9.C.1.)

      2. The team recommends that the college develop a formal process that fully implements the, as yet, unmet portions of the 1993 recommendation number 4: "That the college consider ways of bringing all planning efforts together and integrating them into one college strategic plan which is widely disseminated and used as a framework for decision-making." This process should include decision points such as who is involved in the budget planning processes with identification of their responsibilities in the process timeliness and a description of the linkages between the college's various planning processes, budget development and program review. (Standard 3.B. 1, B.2, B.3)

      3. The team recommends the college should develop and implement a broad-based and integrated system of research, evaluation, and planning to assess the institution and use the results for institutional improvement. (Standard 3.A. 1, A.2, A.3, A.4, C. 1, C.2, C.3)

RECOMMENDATIONS BY ACCJC STANDARDS

Standard Three: Institutional Effectiveness

1. The institution should continue the improvement of its processes by engaging in systematic and integrated educational, financial, physical, technical, and human resource planning, including the implementation of outcome measures with clear documentation of achievement, and identified areas for improvement. (Standard 3) (See recommendations 2 and 3 of this report, Response to the Major Recommendations From 1993 Accreditation Evaluation.)

2. The team recommends that the College incorporate institutional research in its planning process, particularly to guide outcome measures. It is also recommended that the College fully implement the program review process, including a component of measurable outcome criteria, which will make the program reviews more useful in planning, budget development, and decision-making. (Standard 3.A) (See recommendations 2 and 3 of this report, Response to the Major Recommendations From the 1993 Accreditation Evaluation.)

3. The team recommends that the College develop an overall strategy and implementation plan for its distance education programs that incorporates the ACCJC Policy Statement on Accreditation and Authorization of Distance Learning Through Telecommunications. (Standard 3.A) (See recommendation 2 and 3 of this report, Response to the Major Recommendations From the 1993 Accreditation Evaluation.)

4. The team recommends that the College examine closely the recommendations resulting from the self-study and evaluate the resources required to implement the recommendations. The recommendations in the self-study should be evaluated realistically against the College's ability to implement them and these recommendations need to be integrated into the College's plans. (Standards 3 and 9) (See recommendations 2 and 3 of this report, Response to the Major Recommendations From the 1993 Accreditation Evaluation.)

Standard Four: Educational Programs

1. The team feels that it is critical the College further refine its program review process for consistency in use of standards and data. Based on the outcomes of the review process, recommendations regarding the effectiveness of programs should be forthcoming and incorporated into existing College planning processes. The College should develop a process for program discontinuation. (Standard 4.D.1) (See recommendations 2 and 3 of this report, Response to the Major Recommendations From the 1993 Accreditation Evaluation.)

2. The team noted that the College has begun the process of addressing the need for accurate data to evaluate its educational programs; anecdotal evidence indicates that progress is being made in this arena. Documented progress should be reported for accreditation purposes at the next available opportunity. (Standard 4.D.1) (See recommendation 3 of this report, Response to the Major Recommendations From the 1993 Accreditation Evaluation.)

3. The team recommends the Curriculum Committee adopt standards to ensure the rigor and quality of distance education courses. (Standard 4.D.2)

Standard Five: Student Support and Development

1. The team urges the development of a research agenda to meet planning and mandated reporting needs. (See recommendation 3 of this report, Response to the Major Recommendations From the 1993 Accreditation Evaluation.)

Standard Six: Information and Learning Resources

1. The team recommends that the College should conduct a formalized and consistent program review to assess the effectiveness of the Learning Resources Department and to ensure the responsiveness of the department to faculty and curricular needs.

Standard Seven: Faculty and Staff

1. The team recommends a training system for faculty and staff needs to be put in place to support the use of new technologies being integrated into the campus. (Standard 7.C.1)

Standard Nine: Financial Resources

1. The team recommends that Victor Valley College should do a thorough analysis of the institution's indebtedness and develop a plan that clearly demonstrates that the college will be able to liquidate its rather substantial Certificate of Participation. (Standard 9.C. 1) (See recommendation 1 of this report, Response to the Major Recommendations From the 1993 Accreditation Evaluation.)

2. The team recommends the College develop a comprehensive written description of budget policies, guidelines, and processes, which defines the link between budget and financial planning to other institutional planning efforts. (Standard 9.A.1, A.2, A.4) (See recommendation 2 of this report, Response to the Major Recommendations From the 1993 Accreditation Evaluation.)