Accjc gone wild
Declaration of Brice Harris In Support of Herrera Law Suit June 10, 2014
Download 2.61 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- I served as a commissioner
- Note that this was before the meeting when the Commission voted to remove CCSF’s accreditation
- After the second conversation I understood that the Commission had terminated the accreditation of City College.
- The Commission may extend this date at its sole discretion if it determines that conditions warrant such action
- Based on advice from Dr. Bono
Declaration of Brice Harris In Support of Herrera Law Suit June 10, 2014I, Brice Harris, declares as follows: 1. I have personal knowledge of the following facts. If called upon to testify, I could and would testify competently to the contents of this Declaration. 5. From 2000 to 2007, I served as a commissioner for the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (Commission). 6. After assuming the duties of Chancellor I spoke with Dr. Barbara Beno, President of the Commission, numerous times by phone, and exchanged periodic emails with her regarding the accreditation status of City College of San Francisco (City College). 7. On May 20, 2013, Deputy Chancellor Erik Skinner and I met with Dr. Beno at Marin Coffee Roasters in Novato, California, to discuss the accreditation status of City College. (A true and correct copy of my calendar for May 20, 2013, showing the meeting with Dr. Beno is attached as Exhibit 2) Note that this was before the meeting when the Commission voted to remove CCSF’s accreditation. 8. After the meeting, Dr. Beno and I scheduled several telephone calls to discuss the status of City College. The first conversation after the May 20, 2013 meeting, occurred on May 29, 2013 and the second on June 18, 2013. (A true and correct copy of my calendar for May 29 and June 18, 2013, showing the telephone calls is attached as Exhibit 3.) After the second conversation I understood that the Commission had terminated the accreditation of City College. 9. On June 20, 2013, Dr. Beno and I spoke again for the purpose of working out what could be done to save City College. (A true and correct copy of my calendar for June 20, 2013, showing the telephone call is attached as Exhibit 4.) At the conclusion of this conversation, I was clearly left with the unambiguous impression that the only way to save City College was for Board of Governors to "take over" the college. I was also left the impression that there was an opportunity to save City College's accreditation, but that to do so significant work was required to bring the college into compliance with the accreditation standards. 10. On July 3, 2013, I received the Commission's official letter terminating the accreditation of City College effective July 31, 2014 which also advised that "The Commission may extend this date at its sole discretion if it determines that conditions warrant such action!” (A true and correct copy of this letter is Attached as Exhibit 5.) 11. Also, on July 3, 2013, I released a video statement entitled "City College of San Francisco’s Rescue Plan” for the purpose of advising stakeholders and the public that I would be recommending to the Board of Governors that they "take over'' City College by elevating the existing special trustee to a special trustee with extraordinary powers, meaning a special trustee that has all rights, duties and powers of the governing board of San Francisco Community College District to the full extent necessary to manage the district. In that statement I clearly and unequivocally stated that I was doing this for the purpose of ensuring City College would not lose its accreditation and the appointment of the special trustee with extraordinary powers was the best plan to rescue City College. 12. After releasing the video, I received the following email from Dr. Beno, Dear Brice: Beautiful job. Thanks for your video statement, And for all the rest. We are staying late, watching the various news accounts. I think generally the news is letting people know that the college may survive, with the right leadership. I look forward to watching your efforts. Have a good weekend. Barbara A Beno, Ph.D. (Emphasis.added. A true and. correct copy of the email 1 received from Dr. Beno on July, 2013, is attached as Exhibit 6.) 13. Based on this email, which was consistent with all my prior conversations with Dr. Beno, I believed that City College could maintain its accreditation - notwithstanding the Commission's July 3, 2013 letter terminating the Accreditation of City College - if City College took extraordinary steps to comply with the ACCJC's recommendations. 14. On July 8, 2013, I took one of those extraordinary steps by recommending to the Board of Governors that they elevate the existing special trustee to a special trustee with extraordinary powers to assume the leadership of City College, I made this recommendation based on the firm and unwavering belief that City College's accreditation would not be terminated on July 31, 2014, if the ACCJC concluded that City College had come into substantial compliance with the accreditation standards. 15. After a lengthy meeting, with substantial public comment, on July 8, 2013, the Board of Governors elevated the special trustee effectively setting aside City College's existing Board of Trustees. 16. Some of the public comment heard by the Board of Governors during the public meeting in which it elevated the special trustee mistakenly indicated that action would cause City College to lose its accreditation. Dr. Beno clarified in an email dated July 9, 2013, that indeed City College was accredited "and has to keep accreditation." She continued to speculate that at some time in the future the Board of Trustees of City College "will have to be reseated, or an alternative governance system (would need to be) accepted by the commission.” (A true and correct copy of the email is attached as Exhibit 7.) 17. The clear implication was again that the Commission action terminating the accreditation effective July 31, 2014, was not a final action and that there was an opportunity for City College to maintain its accreditation by making improvements going forward.. 18. 1 have on several occasions since the Board of Governors elevated the special trustee to one with extraordinary powers spoken to Dr. Beno regarding the status of City College. At the conclusion of each conversation, I firmly believed there remained an opportunity for City College to demonstrate that it had progressed sufficiently that the Commission could, and. would, take action to permit City College to retain its accreditation. 19. However, in November 2013, this changed. In addition to working diligently to ensure compliance with all accreditation standards, City College was also preparing a Request for Review of the Commission decision to terminate its accreditation. Based on advice from Dr. Bono, City College's Request for Review focused, not on flaws in the Commission's process leading up to that decision, but on what steps City College had taken to come into compliance with the standards since June 2012, and especially since appointment of the special trustee in July 2013. Unfortunately, that advice worked against us. The Request for Review was denied on the basis that the Commission could only consider what occurred up until the decision to terminate was made by the Commission. The ruling made clear that nothing City College had done after that decision could or would be considered. 20. Prior to the Commission's response to the Request for Review, every indication from Dr. Beno on behalf of the Commission, was that if City College came into sufficient compliance with the standards, City Colleges accreditation would be preserved. At no time did Dr. Beno ever guarantee that the termination would be rescinded, as that would depend upon the amount of progress City College made, but she very clearly indicated that there was an opportunity for City College to retain its accreditation by making sufficient progress after June 2013. 21. If I had known on July 8, 2013, that the rules of the Commission were going to be later interpreted to preclude consideration of any progress made by City College after June 2013, and that there existed no opportunity to preserve the accreditation of City College once the Commission made the decision to the decision to terminate it, I would not have asked the Board of Governors to take the extraordinary step of setting aside the locally elected Board of Trustees and to elevated the special trustee to one with extraordinary powers. Every signal from the Commission's President, Dr. Beno, was that there was an opportunity to save City College, that the “college may survive, with the right leadership.” (Exhibit 6.) I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on this 10th day of June, 2014 in Sacramento, California. Directory: uploads uploads -> 587 Return function, r i(X) r i(0) r i(1) r i(2) r i(3) 1 0 2 4 6 Thermal Station, I 2 0 1 5 6 3 0 3 5 6 10 uploads -> Department of science and humanities department of mathematics part-a questions and answers uploads -> The Case Against the nypd’s Quota-Driven ‘Broken Windows’ Policing What Is It? uploads -> For want of a nail uploads -> Ownership Models There are two different types of ownership models uploads -> Police Militarization uploads -> City of rising star regular meting thursday, july 14, 2016 uploads -> Township of winfield uploads -> Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2014 uploads -> The Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Program What We Want Now! Download 2.61 Mb. Share with your friends:
|