The school may be able to breathe a sigh of relief as soon as its accreditation issues come under the microscope again.

On Oct. 15, DVC completed and submitted a follow-up report to the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges in regard to determining their status as an accredited college, Interim President Peter Garcia said in a campus-wide e-mail.

He said the commission could take DVC off “probation” and make it fully accredited again as early as January 2011.

“The commission will review both our follow-up report and the report from the visiting team during their semi-annual meeting in January 2011,” Garcia said in the e-mail. “The college will be notified of the commission’s action, in writing, in late January or early February 2011.”

The commission will be visiting DVC Nov. 18.

“I am confident that DVC has made, and continues to make, considerable progress toward addressing the recommendations made by the previous visiting teams,” said Ted Wieden, interim senior dean of curriculum and instruction.

DVC was placed on “show cause” status by the commission in February 2009 for seven deficiencies the commission found from previous visits, including four from 2002. The commission recommended that the school clarify decision-making roles, integrate college planning and improve communication, according to a November 2009 ACCJC visiting team’s report.

DVC modified its mission statement for the “show cause” report in 2009, but they were not required to do so again for the follow-up report, Wieden said.

The school was not required to address student learning outcomes in the current follow-up report, Wieden said, but “DVC continues to work on instructional SLO’s for courses and programs” and for student services.

A February 2010 letter from the commission improved the school’s accreditation status from “show cause” to “probation,” after the commission found that the college had “completed significant amounts of good work to address the deficiencies” that were found in the previous report.

“I think it’s very likely we’ll be taken off probation,” said Bill Oye, dean of student life. He said, however, that the school could also be improved to “warning” status or kept on “probation.”

Oye said the school’s work toward improving itself wouldn’t change, regardless of what the commission does. Garcia said in his e-mail to DVC faculty and staff, “I have to note that the professionalism and focus of your work in the quest to have your accreditation reaffirmed and your long and illustrious reputation restored are impressive.”

Garcia became interim president Oct. 1.

“Certainly, our hope is that the [commission] will find your work to be reason enough to reaffirm accreditation, but that is a decision and action that is now out of our control,” he said.

Contact Jonathan Roisman at [email protected]