UH community colleges' accreditation renewed

Hawaiʻi Community College
Contact:
Susan Lee, 956-5852
UH Community Colleges
Posted: Feb 6, 2007

HONOLULU — The community colleges of the University of Hawaiʻi system have taken another step forward in securing their role as the state‘s key provider of undergraduate studies and career and technical education.

All seven of the University of Hawaiʻi community colleges have received reaffirmation of their accreditation from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). In the same action, the Commission also removed the warning status from Windward Community College.

"I‘m very pleased with the positive tone of the evaluation reports," said John Morton, UH Vice President for Community Colleges. "The renewal of the community colleges‘ accreditation reaffirms the quality of our institutions and the commitment of our fine faculty and staff in providing the highest level of instruction and service possible.

"Although each college is accredited individually, they all received praise for effective practices in several areas, including the development of a common framework for comprehensive program review," he added. "I‘m very proud of the campus leadership and the dedicated faculty and staff throughout the system."

In the report to University of Hawaiʻi President David McClain, the ACCJC commended the efforts of the university administration and the Board of Regents in bringing the community colleges into alignment with accreditation standards. The Commission also acknowledged the changes that were made in order to support the accreditation of the individual colleges.

UH President David McClain said, "I‘m pleased that ACCJC has reaffirmed the accreditation for a full six years of all our community colleges, who play such a transformational role in the lives of our citizens and in our state‘s economy. Hats off to the leadership of Vice President Morton, our campus chancellors and their faculty and staff for their efforts in preparing their college self studies and in hosting last fall‘s campus visits by the accreditation teams."

Along with the accreditation approval, the ACCJC review teams recommended that the colleges review and evaluate institutional effectiveness of its strategic planning processes, program review and assessment practices, and governance and decision-making structures.

The next regular accreditation review will be in 2012, with interim and mid-term reports to be prepared by each campus on a prescribed timeline.