Abstract of the Report

Standard One: Institutional Mission

Victor Valley College revised its mission statement in 1991 and has reviewed it every year since. When this process was undertaken in concert with the development of the Strategic Plan, the College also adopted a new vision statement, philosophy, beliefs, and goals. Augmenting the development of the Strategic Plan were recommendations garnered from the Facilities Master Plan. As a result of this planning, an outline for the new Educational Master Plan was established. Each year as part of this living plan, the College re-examines the fundamental elements of the Mission and the Strategic Plan and makes changes as appropriate. This is accomplished in cabinet meetings, leadership meetings, flex day activities, special town hall meetings, budget meetings and College Assembly. Decisions concerning programs and resources are regularly rendered based on the principles detailed by the College’s mission, vision, philosophy, beliefs and goals statements.

The mission statement of the College is dynamic in that it can be revisited and changed providing time is allotted for the process. The challenge we must face is to be able to respond efficiently and effectively. This is essential for Victor Valley College because change is inevitable. This change can be brought about by economic conditions, political action, technological innovation, social circumstance and a variety of other factors. As these new challenges are presented, a dynamic process for immediate reexamination of the mission statement and all elements of planning needs to be in place to provide the vehicle for change. This process is clearly defined in the Education Master Plan. The Planning Agenda focuses on integrating the accreditation recommendations into the planning at the College. The College is in compliance with Standard One.

Standard Two: Institutional Integrity

The College is represented clearly, accurately, and consistently in its printed publications such as the Victor Valley College Catalog, Spring 1999 Schedule of Classes, and the Student Handbook. In addition, the College has a World Wide Web Home Page, which prospective students may browse. The Web page recently won the Gold Medallion, presented by the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations, District 6, for its comprehensive coverage. The catalog includes current information regarding curricular offerings, degrees and certificate programs, educational resources, and a listing of all full-time faculty, classified staff, administrators, and governing board members. The catalog contains some information on admissions, but the schedule contains more detailed information, including use of the automated phone system, RamTalk. The College reviews its printed publications regularly for accuracy. Changes are made as needed to update, change, or clarify existing information.

Academic freedom is addressed in different publications. Although statements on academic freedom are printed in several campus publications, many faculty and staff are not familiar with it. Academic honesty is discussed at length in the student handbook; this handbook is accessible for all students, faculty, and staff. The College exercises honesty and integrity in its athletic programs. At the time the self study was conducted, the Athletic Department recommended that there be a counselor who would work strictly with athletes to provide advising. Since this time, a counselor has been assigned for student athletes.

The Planning Agenda focuses on the following: enhancing communication with students, reviewing academic freedom board policy, conducting student surveys, reactivating the Professional Ethics Committee, addressing Internet plagiarism, promoting diversity and affirmative action, reviewing athletic staffing needs, and continuing to demonstrate honesty and integrity with the Commission. The College is in compliance with Standard Two.

Standard Three: Institutional Effectiveness

Since the last accreditation site visit, the College has worked on integrating planning, research and evaluation. Some of the major plans that have been completed or revised (but not limited to) include the following: the Strategic Plan, Educational Master Plan, Facilities Master Plan, Five-Year Construction Plan, Telecommunications Technology Plan, and Matriculation Plan. The goals of the College, planning, research, and evaluation documents were used in developing these plans.

Organization restructuring, downsizing and budget constraints have all affected institutional effectiveness; however, efforts are being made to redefine the responsibilities of the Research Office, develop the institutional effectiveness model, and delineate how research and effectiveness data will support the College’s planning efforts. Through Partnership in Excellence resources, the College is in the process of developing and improving its institutional research capacity and institutional effectiveness. A contract employee was hired in September 1998 to create a research data base. Through the Partnership In Excellence Program, the College will be hiring a full time research analyst, and a Data Processing Technician. In addition, the College is planning to hire an Institutional Researcher. This should result in usable information regarding student assessment, orientation, counseling, student persistence, graduation and transfer for district decision-making. The College has also identified a series of research studies which meet Matriculation and Partnership In Excellence Requirements.

Expected institutional outcomes are described in a number of documents beginning with the College Mission Statement, and many of the planning and report documents. Specifically intended institutional outcomes are addressed by the responsibilities of each of these plans. The College’s major tool for documenting the intended outcomes of the institution is the Strategic Plan. This document outlines the College’s master planning process. The Strategic Plan defines the College’s plans for the future as well as for the present. In addition, the Strategic Plan was used to develop the Educational Master Plan, Facilities Master Plan, Five-Year Construction Plan, Telecommunications Technology Plan, the Matriculation Plan, and other planning documents.

The Planning Agenda focuses on the following: establishment of a centralized research department, the revision and evaluation of planning documents, the hiring of research staff, development of an institutional assessment plan, dissemination of executive summary of planning documents, staff development workshops on planning, the budget process, and documenting student outcomes. The College is in compliance with Standard Three.

Standard Four: Educational Programs

Educational Programs at Victor Valley College have been responsive to and reflect the demographic needs of our student body, serving primarily the High Desert communities of Victor Valley, Apple Valley, Hesperia, Lucerne Valley, Adelanto, Phelan, Crestline, and Wrightwood. The average age of our students is 32 years old, reflecting the need to provide not only a traditional transfer-based and degree granting curriculum, but a variety of vocational certificates and training programs as well. For the first time, in 1997-98, the number of certificates awarded exceeded the number of associate degrees, successfully indicating our responsiveness in meeting the needs of lifelong learners and contributing to workforce development for High Desert residents.

The major responsibility for establishing, evaluating, and approving educational programs at Victor Valley College rests with the Curriculum Committee, a standing committee of the Academic Senate. The Curriculum Committee has an established process by which it evaluates and makes recommendations on all matters related to the credit curriculum at Victor Valley College. This process includes implementing policies and procedures for the development and approval of the curriculum and reviewing and making recommendations on proposed new courses, new programs, program revisions, and course revisions. The Curriculum Committee publishes and makes available to all departments and faculty a guide for submitting new courses and establishing pre-requisites and co-requisites. The Curriculum Committee also promotes use of materials published by the Statewide Academic Senate. New courses, certificates, and programs are developed according to their appropriateness to our mission, and in accordance with demonstrable feasibility and need, with adherence to Title V standards, and in compliance with all laws and state educational code requirements. New programs and certificates 18 units and above are submitted to the State Chancellor’s Office for approval.

Students are made aware of program requirements through counselors, in accordance with guidelines published in the Victor Valley College Catalog, outlining requirements for certificates, degrees and university transfer. Strong partnerships exist between Victor Valley College and the high desert community, providing numerous avenues of feedback for assessing the educational, professional development, and job training needs of our community. Principals and Superintendents of area K-12 districts regularly attend roundtable meetings to identify educational needs. Business and community leaders sit on the Victor Valley College Foundation Board, and regularly provide input to the College in ascertaining the area’s net job market, and emerging small business and occupational opportunities for the area.

The institution’s goal is to maintain high quality instruction and academic rigor. A measure of the success of those goals is that the GPA of our transfer students at CSU, San Bernardino is higher after transfer than the GPA of students who were continuously enrolled at the same university as freshmen and sophomores. Standards for instructional excellence are maintained through numerous means. All faculty are required to submit a syllabus for each of their courses to the Office of Instruction prior to the start of each semester. These syllabi must be based on the official course outline of record as reviewed by the Curriculum Committee. All courses are subject to review every seven years. Over the past five years, an additional 32 faculty have been added, bringing our full time faculty to 98 and bringing us closer to achieving the desired 75-25% ratio of full-time to part-time faculty, and an additional eight full-time faculty will be added in 1999. Program Review is conducted as a self-study by the program’s faculty with the involvement of students and administrators. The outcome is a written report developed by the faculty and based on information taken from four areas of self-study: department overview, student access and success, curriculum, and instructional excellence.

For continued instructional improvement, the goals of the College are to continue increasing the full-time to part-time ratio, develop a greater emphasis on ensuring that adjunct instructors follow course outlines of record with the same rigorous standards as apply to full-time instructors, and develop stronger methods to identify and enforce pre-requisite requirements. The College is in compliance with Standard Four.

Standard Five: Student Support and Development

Victor Valley College offers a full range of comprehensive student services and programs to meet the diversity of its student population. These services and programs include counseling, to support the educational need of students, mentoring, and tutoring. The registration process has been improved with the implementation of RamTalk. The Ram Talk electronic registration program allows the student to register, and add or drop classes. Students are introduced to the College through the catalog, schedule, student handbook, and web page. These publications are updated frequently and distributed throughout campus. Students also receive information through the new student orientation, individual program brochures, and promotional materials. The storage, security, and confidentiality of student records is considered a paramount task in the Admissions and Records Office. The appropriate staff will be trained to operate and use the image scanning equipment for the efficient and effective management of student records. Victor Valley College offers computerized assessment testing in reading composition, sentence skills, and three levels of math: arithmetic, elementary math and college level math. One of the Colleges’ goals according to Victor Valley College 1998/99 Matriculation Plan, by the end of Spring ‘99, the CPT results will be analyzed by ethnicity, disability, gender, and age to determine "disparate impact" and general course impact; CPT "cut scores" and results will be reviewed by the faculty; and faculty/student placement "opinion" survey will be conducted in selected classes. At present, efforts are being made to improve and update technology in all areas on campus. Once implementation has been completed, Student Service departments, Special Services and programs should be able to provide services by utilizing technology to reduce time intensive tasks.

Departments and programs that provide educational support services for Victor Valley College students are now housed in a number of locations on campus. Students may find it challenging to readily locate needed programs and sometimes do not persist in utilizing recommended services. The Dean of Students will see that all departments and programs that provide student educational support services should be centrally located, preferably in nearby buildings or in one facility. Co-curricular activities on campus provide a platform for students to interact with others who have similar interests. Involvement in such activities provides the student with an environment that can be relaxing, socially responsible or academically challenging. The College will systematically evaluate the appropriateness, adequacy, and effectiveness of its student services and will use the results of the evaluation as basis for improvement. According to the 1997 Student Satisfaction Survey the majority of the respondents, 84%, were pleased with the overall experience at Victor Valley College.

Students participate on many of the standing committees that deal with planning and evaluation of student services and all other programs at Victor Valley College. Student representatives have served on the various Matriculation Committees and will continue to participate in reviews. The matriculation components include: Admissions, Assessment, Orientation, Counseling/Advisement, Follow-up, and Research and Evaluation. The Associated Student Body President has been invited to attend counseling meetings to discuss student needs and suggestions for improving services. The Counseling Department will continue to invite ASB members to department meetings to facilitate communication and improve student support services. The Student Body Representative have expressed the need to be more actively involved in planning and evaluating student support and development services. The Academic Senate, the administration, and Associated Student Body will increase and allow student participation in shared governance, and joint committees, by broadening the recruitment efforts for committee and task force participants from the student population.

The Planning Agenda focuses on the following: improving student services through the use of technology, improving delivery of information to students, development of a Student Services Plan, evaluating student services, increasing student participation on committees, analyzing and distributing the Computerized Placement Test results, improving overall student services through training of staff on equipment, expanded services, and diversity activities. The College is in compliance with Standard Five.

Standard Six: Information And Learning Resources

The Learning Resources Department at Victory Valley College consists of the Library, Instructional Media Services (IMS) and the Learning Center. A new Learning Resources facility was completed in April 1987 and houses the Library and IMS. The Learning Center moved into the remodeled "old library" (now known as the Academic Commons) in the Summer, 1998.

In planning both facilities (LRC and Learning Center) a great deal of emphasis was placed on enhanced access to learning resources via technology. The Library has in place a new automated system with 17 Online Public Access Terminals and Web access. The Learning Center runs approximately fifty multiple subject programs in a computer lab of 82 workstations. Word processing and Internet access is also available on 28 computers. The IMS Department has upgraded equipment to incorporate new technologies including the installation of a Picture Tel video conferencing system.

The shared emphasis on computer technology within the departments has naturally resulted in some common areas of concern. These include the needs for increased access to current technologies, additional technical support staff, and a comprehensive plan for hardware and software maintenance. Also identified is the need for actively promoting the services in each area to ensure the effective use of technology by students, faculty and staff. The College is in compliance with Standard Six.

Standard Seven: Faculty and Staff

The College has well defined procedures that govern the selection of administrators, faculty, and staff. The College is committed to recruiting well-qualified, ethnically diverse hiring pools. Because of the difficulty in finding large numbers of qualified faculty applicants, the College has made instruction a priority for hiring. Criteria for selection have been effective in attracting qualified full-time faculty, administrative-management-confidential, and classified personnel at Victor Valley College. Evaluation procedures for faculty are outlined in the collective bargaining agreement. The CSEA contract governs classified evaluation. Evaluation procedures for administrators involves all staff.

The institution provides appropriate activities to all categories of staff for continued professional development. An annual calendar brochure as well as On-line calendar provide detailed information on all staff development workshops on campus. Planning and evaluation of staff development programs include the participation of all staff. A campus-wide needs survey is conducted each spring to obtain feedback and provide input for the following year’s planning.

The Planning Agenda focuses on the following: faculty hiring, revisions of the Faculty-Staff Diversity Plan, improvement of the evaluation process, review of board policies on evaluation, publication of Staff Development Handbook/Flex Guideline, staffing needs, staff development workshops, a Special Recognition Committee, development of a faculty/staff resource center, development of a safety and wellness program, development of a policy for privacy of information for academic and management personnel records, workload issues for technology mediated instruction, Internet policies, development of a classified employees handbook, and development of a new employee orientation program. The College is in compliance with Standard Seven.

Standard Eight: Physical Resources

Victor Valley College is a beautiful campus on a 300-acre site with the core of the campus being a lake. During the past five years, science, library, construction technology, student activities center, and gym buildings have been added to the campus. In addition, a Central Plant project, an elevator, and a modular unit Child Development Center have been added to the campus. An older library building has been remodeled to include a learning center, language lab, student assessment, and learning disabilities.

Campus streets have been improved, connecting the upper and lower campuses, and 1,000 parking spaces have been added. In excess of $5 million of state and local resources have been invested in furniture and equipment. An ATM fiber optic backbone has been installed, some 600 student computer stations have been installed or upgraded, and faculty and services employ computer technology.

By practice, approximately 20 percent of facilities and parking lots are refurbished annually to maintain the physical plant in quality condition. Facility planning includes a major classroom building which will include some 950 student computer learning stations--funded for preliminary plans for 1999-2000. Other projects include a Child Development Center--funded for preliminary plans and working drawings for 1999-2000; a telecommunications infrastructure project; road safety project; Theater Arts/Speech facility; a seismic retrofit/remodel of the older gym; and a barrier removal project. The facilities requirements for the departments have been integrated into the Educational Master Plan. The College also has a variety of Scheduled Maintenance projects approved and in the request process. Finally, the College has $466,000 for asbestos removal from the Humanities classroom building—to be completed this summer.

The Planning Agenda focuses on the implementation of a customer satisfaction survey, and the continuation of first level users in recommending equipment needs. The College is compliance with Standard Eight.

Standard Nine: Financial Resources

The financial planning at Victor Valley College is directly related to its mission and goals. Substantive efforts have been made to ensure that the College operates in a quality, yet cost-efficient and cost-effective manner. The District is financially sound with at least a 5 percent general operating reserve, and a $1 million restricted reserve, and with revenues exceeding expenditures on an annual basis.

Financial planning and district finances are open processes with concerted efforts made to help employees/students understand these processes. Short-term and long-term debts of the District were planned and are manageable. Auxiliary enterprises are self supporting and Risk Management is broad based and cost effective. The College has invested substantially in computer technology for instructional and administrative processes. Physical plant plans reflect the educational master plan for the College. The College is in compliance with Standard Nine.

The Planning Agenda focuses on the following: increasing sources of revenue and financial resources, refining the budget process, staff development training for the electronic requisition process, streamlining of purchasing procedures, monitoring of budget management controls, striving for accurate financial documents, oversight of finances, fund raising activities with the Foundation, annual report of finances, and being cognizant of state construction funded processes.

Standard Ten: Governance and Administration

The Victor Valley College Board of Trustees insures the quality and integrity of the College. The Board of Trustees provides global direction for the College to the Superintendent/President. Board of Trustee regulations, procedures, and policies are stated in the Board Policy Handbook. The role of all segments of the College in the governance process is stated in the Victor Valley College Governance Document, and all campus constituent groups are represented on all relevant campus committees. The Personal Assessment of the College Environment (PACE) and Student Assessment of the College Environment (SACE) surveys indicate that the College, through the efforts of the Superintendent/President, has provided an environment in which sufficient staff and administrative services are organized effectively to encourage student success.

The Personal Assessment of the College Environment (PACE) and Student Assessment of the College Environment (SACE) surveys indicate a healthy campus climate in the communication and formal influence categories. However the Personal Assessment of the College Environment (PACE) survey illuminates some concern about the organizational structure of the campus. Since the last site visit, the College has created or reclassified the following positions: Internal Auditor, Director of Customer Relations, Director of Purchasing/Facility, Director of Financial Aid, Director of Campus Security, and Director of EOPS. The College plans to split the office of Vice President of Student Learning, recreate a Vice President of Student Services, and plans to hire a Director of Institutional Technology. The active involvement of the Superintendent/President in various committees insures that the concerns of campus and community groups are heard. In addition, the College has established a digital infrastructure to broaden the methods by which students and the community can be served and communicated to, as well as new facilities to provide students with the best possible learning environment.

Based upon interviews with the administration and management representatives of the College Assembly, one of the strengths of the College Assembly is the broad representation and the interaction of the five major constituent groups, faculty, staff, students, management, and administrators. Some of the representatives feel the College has a model shared governance program.

The Planning Agenda focuses on the following: conducting additional surveys on the evaluation of the Board of Trustees and of the Superintendent/President, implementing the Educational Master Plan, conducting board presentations on program review, encouraging staff attendance at board meetings, revising the Board Policy Handbook, accessing board policies through e-mail, conducting the Personal Assessment of the College Environment and the Student Assessment of the College Environment surveys, determining if allocated resources are meeting goals, revising the evaluation process for administrators, continuing to encourage participation in shared governance, adopting procedures for consulting collegially, revising the governance document, and updating committees utilizing technology. The College is in compliance with Standard Ten.