Pima Community College is holding public forums on its accreditation issues this week, without much notice to the community.
The forums, which were not widely publicized, will focus on what has been done to fix 11 areas of deficiency that left PCC barely able to meet minimum standards for institutional quality.
The sessions are scheduled as follows:
Thursday, Sept 15:
- 10:30 a.m. to noon — Board room at PCC headquarters, 4905 E. Broadway.
- 3 to 4:30 p.m. — Maintenance and security center, 6680 S. Country Club Road, Room MS-105
- 6 to 7:30p.m. — East Campus, 8181 East Irvington Road, Room L-101
Friday, Sept. 16:
- 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. — West Campus, 2202 W. Anklam Road, Room J-G05
- 10:30 a.m. to noon — Downtown Campus, 1255 N. Stone Ave., Room RV-170
- 1:30 to 3 p.m. — Community Campus, 401 North Bonita Ave., Room A 109/112.
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PCC’s accreditor, the Chicago-based Higher Learning Commission, is sending a team to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ on Sept. 26-27 to see if an accreditation sanction imposed last year should be lifted.
A similar team in 2014 found problems ranging from a lack of stability in administrative leadership to a lack of proper quality control systems for PCC’s educational programs.
Public institutions typically put out news releases when they hold public forums to help spread the word, but PCC didn’t do so in this case. A source alerted the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ on Wednesday that sessions were taking place.
College spokeswoman Libby Howell, who is responsible for media relations and public information, said she didn’t see the need for a news release.
Though PCC refers to this week’s events as public forums, “the forums were not created specifically for the public†but rather, for college employees, Howell said.
The meeting notices were published in a section of the college’s website.
College officials, who planned the sessions weeks ago, decided after the fact to allow the public to attend, she said.