Institutional Self Evaluation Report in Support of Reaffirmation of Accreditation Presented to Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges Western Association of Schools and Colleges January 2013 Copper Mountain Community College District 6162 Rotary Way Joshua Tree, California 92252 Board of Trustees Liz Meyer, President; Eva Kinsman, Vice President; Dick Rogers, Clerk; Greg Gilbert, Trustee; & Mary Lomardo, Trustee Copper Mountain College Dr. Roger Wagner, Superintendent/President Table of Contents ____________________________________________________ Certification of Institutional Self Evaluation Report………………….…A 3-4 Introduction…………………………………………………………..….…..1–16 Mission and Vision Statement and Core Values……………………………...….……..1 History of the College….……………………………………………………….……..2-4 Institutional Organization……………………………………………………………….5 Demographics……………………………………………..………………………....6-16 The Current State of the College……..………………………………………..6-7 Economic Base: Copper Mountain College – Morongo Basin….……….…...8-9 The College…………………………………………………….….…...............10 Student Demographics…………………………………………..………….11-12 Community (Morongo Basin) Demographic Data…………………………….13 Student Success and Achievement…………………………………………………14-16 Organizational Charts………………………………………………………17-28 Organization of the Self Evaluation…………………………………….....29-34 Accreditation Timeline……………………………………………………………..29-30 Accreditation Steering Committee Members………………………………………….31 Accreditation Standard Committee Members………………………………………32-34 Certification of Compliance with Eligibility Requirements………………35-41 Certification of Compliance with Commission Policies…………………..42-46 Progress on 2007 ACCJC Recommendations…………………………......47-51 Standard I: Institutional Mission and Effectiveness………………………52-73 Standard I.A. Mission……………………………………………………………….52-57 Standard I.B. Improving Institutional Effectiveness……………………………….58-70 Standard I References………………………………………………….……………71-73 Table of Contents cont. Standard II: Student Learning Programs and Services…………………..74-139 Standard II.A. Instructional Programs……………………………………………....74-102 Standard II.A. References………………………………………………………….103-105 Standard II.B. Student Support Services…………………………………………..106-125 Standard II.B. References………………………………………………………….126-128 Standard II.C. Library and Learning Support Services………………………….…129-137 Standard II.C. References………………………………………………………….138-139 Standard III: Resources…………………………………………………...140-195 Standard III.A. Human Resources…………………………………………………140-157 Standard III.A. References…………………………………………………………158-160 Standard III.B. Physical Resources………………………………………………..161-169 Standard III.B. References………………………………………………………..…….170 Standard III.C. Technology Resources…………………………………………....171-177 Standard III.C. References……………………………………………………..……….178 Standard III.D. Financial Resources…………………………………………...….179-193 Standard III.D. References………………………………………………………...194-195 Standard IV: Leadership and Governance………………………………196-221 Standard IV.A. Decision Making Roles and Processes………………………..….196-205 Standard IV.B. Board and Administrative Organization……………………...…...206-218 Standard IV References…………………………………………………………….219-221 Glossary of Acronyms and Abbreviations Used in the Self Evaluation…222-227 Map of Copper Mountain College Campus…………………………………...228 Mission & Vision Statement & Core Values MISSION STATEMENT Our Mission is to provide access to educational opportunities for diverse desert communities through a comprehensive curriculum and a passion for the success of every individual student. VISION STATEMENT Copper Mountain College will be the educational and cultural center of the Morongo Basin. Through cooperative efforts with the community and within the college, we will develop innovative curricula matched to the needs of our students to prepare them to achieve their educational, employment, and life-long learning goals. CORE VALUES Mutual Respect: to work in a spirit of cooperation and collaboration. Ethical Behavior: to demonstrate through personal action that people should relate to each other in accordance with the accepted principles of right and wrong. Service: to help others become morally and ethically wiser, freer in thought, and better able to serve. Integrity: to act ethically and honestly toward our students, colleagues, and community in order to hold their trust and to be true to our word. Collaboration: to work together to shape the future of the college. Accountability: to accept responsibility for our actions. Commitment: to work actively in promoting the academic, social, and economic well-being of the students and communities we serve. 1 History of the College 2011 Fall Registration on the Marine Base Until 1967, residents of the Morongo Basin seeking vocational training or college level courses commuted down the narrow Morongo grade to distant institutions, the closest being the College of the Desert located in Palm Desert and operated by the Coachella Valley Community College District, 55 miles away and in a different county. Eventually, the Coachella District extended an invitation to Morongo Basin residents to become a part of the District. In September 1966, local residents voted to accept the invitation. In the fall of 1967, the College of the Desert began to offer a schedule of evening college courses in the Morongo Basin, taught mainly in local schools. The high desert program grew quickly in course offerings, students, and staff, expanding its work to include the nearby Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center. Classes were held in a variety of rented facilities, including Quonset huts, scattered across the Morongo Basin. Administrative offices were located in a vacant Catholic school. Sensing a potentially strong service area, the Coachella Valley District, later known as the Desert Community College District, had the foresight to purchase 120 acres near Copper Mountain in unincorporated Joshua Tree for future campus development. The purchase of property gave local residents hope that they might eventually have their own college. Accordingly, the vision for a college grew and volunteers began to develop plans for making it happen. Two immensely important elections occurred in the late 1970s, one boosting the prospects of a real community college campus in the Morongo Basin, the other capable of preventing it. The pro-campus campaign was encouraged by the election in November 1977 of Twentynine Palms resident Virnita McDonald to the Board of Trustees of the Coachella Valley Community College 2 District. Mrs. McDonald was the first Morongo Basin candidate elected to the predominantly Coachella Valley governing board. She ran on the platform of building a campus in the Morongo Basin. Her election indicated that the need for a Morongo Basin campus was widely understood. The new Board of Trustees promptly set aside $343,000, intended to be the first of a series of expenditures to build it. The following election brought a different message. California’s voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the State Constitution called “Proposition 13,” that, among other things, eliminated the ability of local school districts to decide on their construction needs and to tax local property owners to pay for them. Not deterred, the District spent the next two years determining how to build the campus. A water well was drilled on the site in 1980, revealing a substantial amount of good water. In addition, Commanding General Glasgow of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center assigned his troops a “training exercise,” grading the site at no cost to the District, saving an estimated $100,000. With no options for state funds, the movement to raise private funds emerged out of necessity. The Friends of Copper Mountain College, founded in 1981, launched a fundraising campaign that ignited a fire of enthusiasm for the project in the local communities. The Soroptimist Club sponsored a radio-thon, and the three Rotary Clubs pledged $100,000. Both efforts were successful and sparked many other community groups and individuals to follow suit with other pledges and gifts. Since 1982, the Friends of Copper Mountain College have disbursed well over 2.5 million dollars, raised by the residents of Morongo Basin communities for projects and programs in support of the College. In addition to fundraising in the traditional sense, the Board of Trustees authorized the sale of Certificates of Participation that the Friends of Copper Mountain College marketed. A total of $850,000 was raised in this manner. Groundbreaking for Phase I was held in February 1983, and the new campus opened in April 1984 with a student enrollment of 3,800. The initial buildings included administrative office space, a small bookstore, temporary space for a library and student services programs, and classrooms arranged around an open courtyard with interconnecting walkways joining the structures. Morongo Basin residents are extremely proud that they built the first and only community college with private funds. Despite the new campus, more than 40% of the classes were held off campus in Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms high schools, the Marine Corps base, and various leased facilities including community centers and fire stations. It quickly became apparent that more space was needed, and a clearly defined vision for a second phase emerged. Phase II was completed in 1988 and added computer and language labs, faculty offices, special rooms for art instruction, and more general purpose classrooms to handle the rapidly