[Noozhawk’s note: Click here for the full report.]

On Feb. 6, I received a preliminary report from the investigative team from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges concerning a complaint about SBCC made to the ACCJC last June.

Under ACCJC policy, this report is to be kept confidential, and it is only upon final commission action that a public report is made. This is to ensure that institutional assessments are accurate and that candid communications can occur that reflect all needed input from the institution during the review process.

The unauthorized leak of the investigative team report to the press is very harmful to this process.

I have had direct confirmation from ACCJC earlier this week that the report is preliminary only and is not expected to be made public. Before any final commission action is taken and any report issued, the college will submit its formal response, providing additional critical input and correcting various errors. Only after the full review process has been completed will the commission deliberate and consider taking some final action, and only then will it become public.

It is especially troubling in an institution of higher education, which is expected to lead by example, that someone associated with SBCC has chosen for his/her own personal reasons to leak this report. By not following established rules designed to result in a fair and unbiased process, the college and board members have been portrayed in ways that are inaccurate, unbalanced and not reflective of actual events.

Despite this unfortunate turn of events, SBCC will continue to honor the rules that have been put in place. I will be preparing a confidential response to the investigative team report, as I have been requested to do, and otherwise will fully cooperate with the ACCJC during the remainder of its investigation.

— Jack Friedlander is the acting superintendent/president of SBCC.