Institutional Self Study for Reaffirmation of Accreditation
— Fall 2008
STEERING COMMITTEE
- Alexander, Ken
- Corlew, Curtis
- Cutler, Bruce
- Fithian, Christine
- Garcia, Peter
- Gottlieb, Phil
- Henry, Daniel
- Kohler, Linda
- Livingston, Richard
- Moy, Frances
- Norris, Michael
- Rodriguez, Gil
- Sale, Humberto
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“Accreditation as a system of voluntary, non-governmental self regulation and peer review is unique to American educational institutions. It is a system by which an institution evaluates itself in accordance with standards of good practice regarding goals and objectives; the appropriateness, sufficiency and utilization of resources; the usefulness, integrity and effectiveness of its processes; and the extent to which it is achieving its intended outcomes.” – Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
The Accreditation team will visit LMC on October 14-16. The team is charged with determining the extent to which an institution meets the standards of good practice, based on the college’s Self Study (copies available in the President’s Office). The 11-member group is chaired by Dr. Kathryn Jeffery, President of Sacramento City College.
The team will be out and about at LMC – visiting classes and offices, attending meetings and interviewing members of the college community. Please make yourself available to interact with our guests, as needed.
On Thursday, October 16th at 1:00 p.m. in L109 (Community Room), the team will present its preliminary findings in an open meeting. Typically the chair will commend exemplary practices and make recommendations for improvement. The Accrediting Commission will then determine LMC’s accreditation status at its January meeting.
The Accreditation team
Dr. Elaine R. Ader
 Dr. Elaine Ader has served as the Dean of Information Technology at Sacramento City College since May 2001. Her responsibilities include campus infrastructure, technology planning, and staff development. Prior to coming to Sacramento City College, Elaine was Director of the Extended Learning Center at Montgomery College in The Woodlands, Texas and was Director of Computing and Technology Services at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. In addition to her college responsibilities, she also sits on the board of Area 3 State Council on Developmental Disabilities. Elaine has been on two site visits in recent years for Standards 1 and 3C. She is currently the team assistant for the Los Medanos accreditation visit.
Dr. Joe Carrithers
 Joe Carrithers has taught full time in the English Department at Fullerton College since 1994. He has experience teaching basic skills and transfer-level classes, and he has been a faculty member in both the Transfer Achievement Program and the Honors Program. He served three years as the president of the Faculty Senate and has been a member of various campus and district committees, including the Planning and Consultative Council, District Planning Council, District Curriculum Coordinating Committee, and Chancellor’s Cabinet. He is a past recipient of the President’s Award at Fullerton College and was named its Teacher of the Year in 2003. As a member of the Local Senates Committee for the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges for two years, he helped to revise the handbook for local academic senate leaders. He served as co-chair for his college’s accreditation self study of 1999 and as chair for the self study of 2005. This is his fourth time serving as a member of an accreditation site visit team.
Dr. Angela R. Fairchilds
 Dr. Angela Fairchilds joined the Yuba Community College District in January 2004 as the Executive Dean of Woodland Community College. She was appointed as the first President of WCC in January 2006. During her tenure as President, WCC was granted Initial Accreditation by ACCJC and became the 110th Community College in California.
Dr. Fairchilds has over 24 years experience in Post-Secondary Education Administration. She has extensive experience working with non-traditional and underrepresented student populations in public and private universities in New Mexico and California (New Mexico State University and Golden Gate University), as well as community colleges in Arizona (Yavapai College ) and California (WCC).
Dr. Fairchilds holds a Bachelor of Science in Management and an MBA in Information Systems from Golden Gate University, as well as a Ph.D. in Higher Education with emphasis in Community College Administration from the University of Arizona.
Dr. Fairchilds believes in the importance of serving the community through different service organizations. She is an active Rotarian, member of the California Community Colleges Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Committee, and is a Board member for the Woodland Chamber of Commerce. She has a strong and enduring commitment to community colleges and to the students and communities they serve.
Felix Hernandez Jr.
 Felix Hernandez Jr. has over 26 years of experience in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. In addition to having a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Management, and a Master’s in Conflict Management & Negotiations and holding a Class B general building contractor’s license, Felix worked 19 years in the Facilities Department at Los Angeles Unified School District prior to working 11 years in
the California community college system.
Dr. Kathryn E. Jeffery
 Dr. Kathryn E. Jeffery is serving as the chair of the accreditation team visiting Los Medanos College October 14-16. She began her journey in two-year colleges as a counselor and instructor at Sacramento City College (SCC). Over the years she has broadened her career and developed executive leadership expertise by serving inside and outside of California. In March of 2008, Dr. Jeffery returned to SCC to serve as its fourteenth President.
Dr. Jeffery has served the Chancellor’s Office of California Community Colleges as Director of Staff Diversity and Staff Development and from there accepted a position at Columbia College in the Yosemite District as Vice President where she served for 10 years. As new opportunities to expand her experience were presented, she accepted executive leadership roles at the College of Southern Nevada and Hennepin Technical College as Provost and President, respectively. Dr. Jeffery has served as a member of accreditation teams visiting several community colleges in California and has extensive knowledge of the state’s two-year programs and services.
Tim Karas
 Since 2005, Tim Karas has been Director of Library Services at Mission College in Santa Clara. Prior to Mission College, Tim was a faculty member at the College of San Mateo. Tim is active in the community serving as a Library Commissioner for the City of San Jose since 2001. Prior to working in academia, he worked as a librarian for the City of Palo Alto and Redwood City. His educational background includes a Masters in Library and Information Science
from San Jose State University, a professional certificate in Instructional Technology from San Jose State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from Humboldt State University. Tim has served on two previous accreditation teams.
Dr. Nizam Kazi
 Dr. Nizam U. Kazi, Professor of Mathematics at Mt. San Jacinto College (MSJC) since 1985. During his tenure at MSJC, he has served in many capacities, including, but not limited to, the President of the District Academic Senates; Chair of Math Department; district-wide Division Director for Math And Science (for one year including Nursing and Allied Health); and district-wide Dean of Instruction. Dr. Kazi has served on many committees including Chair of District Curriculum Committee. Nizam has been teaching all levels of Math including online classes. He also taught at California State University, Chittagong University, and USC. Nizam, a native of Bangladesh, received his B.Se. and M.Se. from Chittagong University, Bangladesh and Ph.D. from University of Southern California, Los Angeles. This is his fifth accreditation team visit, including one visit to Guam Community College.
Dr. Mildred Lovato
 Dr. Lovato has eleven years experience in higher education and joined the team of administrators at Bakersfield College (BC) in 2005 after previously having served as the Assistant Vice President of Academic Support and Student Retention at Santa Fe Community College, the Director of Advisement and Counseling at Central New Mexico Community College (CNM), and the Achievement Coach for the Technologies Department at CNM. In her role at BC she oversees Admissions and Records, Assessment, Financial Aid, Counseling, Transfer and Career Center, Matriculation, Student Health Center, Disabled Students Programs and Services, EOPS, Title V grants, Foundations of Excellence, Athletic Department, Physical Education and Health, Work Experience, Job Placement, CalWorks, Public Safety and Security, Student Activities, and Outreach. She earned a doctorate in Educational Administration, Community College Leadership Development, from New Mexico State University and a Masters in Counseling Education from the University of New Mexico. In 2000, she received a National Student Retention Award from Noel Levitz for the development of a student retention model: Relationship based Retention/Dimensional Development (R2D2). Dr. Lovato currently co-chairs the Enrollment Management Committee, the Educational Administrators Council, and the Faculty Chairs and Directors Council. She also chairs the Steering Committee of the Foundations of Excellence First Year Experience program, a partnership with Cal State Bakersfield, which is committed to advancing the college going rate in the community and in meeting the needs of first year students so that they will attain their educational goals. This is her second accreditation site team visit under the new standards.
Robert Pacheco
 Robert Pacheco is a faculty member, Institutional Researcher and Accreditation Liaison Officer at Barstow College. He is board member of the RP Group and the California State Academic Senate Committee on SLOs and Accreditation. He is the At Large Representative in the college’s Academic Senate and a member of the Strategic Planning Committee, the SLO Assessment Committee and the Matriculation Advisory Committee.
Dr. Dan Walden
 Dr. Dan Walden is Dean of Academic Affairs at Los Angeles Southwest College. His academic areas of responsibility are the English and Foreign Languages Department, the Learning Assistance Department, which includes all of the tutoring labs and the Developmental Communications Discipline, and the Mathematics Department. His current mandate is to focus on bringing synergy, as it relates to basic skills and matriculation into higher level and transfer courses, among these departments. With a strong background in institutional research and planning, he also has a presidential assignment to work closely with strategic planning and lead in the accreditation efforts on campus. Dr. Walden received his doctorate from Claremont Graduate University in 2008 and published two articles this past year related to his dissertation through the Community College Leadership Development Initiative (CCLDI) at the University of San Diego. These articles focus on systemic institutional change through the use of research for decision-making. |
