B. Peralta Community College District Recommendations Page 19 District Recommendation 1 Page 21 District Recommendation 2 Page 29 District Recommendation 3 Page 41 District Recommendation 4 Page 66 District Recommendation 5 Page 83 District Recommendation 6 Page 99 District Recommendation 7 Page 114 District Recommendation 8 Page 123 Follow-up Report Preparation and Timeline In January 2015, Berkeley City College (BCC) submitted its 2015 Institutional Self Evaluation of Educational Quality and Institutional Effectiveness in Support of Reaffirmation of Accreditation to the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges This was followed by a site visit by the ACCJC to BCC from March 9-12, 2015. On June 29, 2015, BCC received the Commission’s Revision to the Comprehensive Evaluation Team’s Report with the Commission’s Action Letter, which noted that ACCJC took action to “issue Warning and require the College to submit a Follow-Up Report in October 2016” due to District deficiencies. The report and action letter were made available to the public on the College’s ACCJC Correspondence web page upon receipt.
In addition, the Office of Finance and Administration has lacked appropriate staffing to ensure a concerted and consistent focus on internal controls and operational business processes. Under the leadership of the current Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, who was hired in August 2015, the Office of Finance and Administration has reworked its organizational structure to include two new, critical positions: a senior accountant and a payroll manager [DR2.43]. Both of these positions will provide additional support and guidance to the Colleges as well as to provide for enhanced internal controls monitoring and continued improvement. The District’s commitment to strengthening its internal controls and enhancing its business processes is evidenced by the marked decrease of audit findings over the past three years. Given the work of the Audit Resolution Work Team and other collaborative District efforts, the District has reduced completely its number of findings: the four findings noted in 2015 (See also DR2.2; DR2.3; DR2.4) the fourteen findings noted in 2013, and the twelve findings noted in 2014. The District is confident that the number of subsequent recurrent audit findings will continue to be minimal, if not non-existent. As the Audit Resolution Work Team and other cross-functional groups—such as the Grants Administration Team— continue their collaborative efforts, District operations and compliance mechanisms are only strengthened. The re-organization of the Finance Division, and ongoing leadership stability, will provide the requisite resources to support this crucial work of audit reform. VII. Conclusion: The District has resolved all ongoing deficiencies identified in the 2013 and 2014 external audit findings and meets the Standards (III.D.2.b, III.D.3.h). Now that the ongoing deficiencies have been resolved, and the non-recurrent audit functions that are considered key to its operational efficiency, fiscal integrity, and educational services delivery capacity have been addressed, the District is focusing its attention on other business processes identified as
The revisions to the District Functions charts are particularly valuable as the District has initiated a reorganization and constituents continue to provide feedback to perfect the understanding of District/College functions. V. District Organization Charts: In addition to function charts, Organization Charts were created to better understand the delineation of function between the District and the Colleges. The Organization Charts show the personnel positions for each District Service Center and the hierarchy of each position whereas the Function Charts show the responsibilities inherent in each position at the Center level, thus the two charts complement each other. The Organization charts complement the Function Charts. Organization Charts for all the District Service Centers are included as a single document in this report. Both are necessary to understand the workings of the District Service Centers and are essential to understanding the structure and dynamics of a work environment with its numerous independent units. Again, as the District has engaged in reorganization, the Organization Charts have needed much revision to complement the Functions’ Charts and the District will continue to evaluate both documents [DR6.10]. VI. District Functions Matrix The Vice Chancellor of Education Services and Vice Chancellor of Institutional Planning and Advancement collaborated to revise a District Functions Matrix, originally created in 2014, that provides a comprehensive narrative of the delineation of functions provided by the District. The Matrix details indicators that depict College/District responsibilities labeled as primary, secondary, shared, or not applicable, and organized around Accreditation Standards. The most recent version of the Functions Matrix was completed in May 2016 and brought to the PBC for distribution to the
Chancellor was selected, the Contract provisions clarified Chancellor/Board roles. [DR7.3] The new Chancellor assumed his position on July 1, 2015. In his August 2015 Flex Address to all PCCD constituents, the Chancellor introduced what he called “The New Peralta Way,” an initiative intended to reform Peralta’s leadership through the strengthening of competence, passion, integrity, and intimacy—a leadership focused on enhancing student success. He stated: “We must commit to support an impeccable and dedicated Governing Board practicing trusteeship at its best…I am pleased to say it seems that we are working well from the same vibe.” At the Flex event, the Board President spoke of the confidence the Board has in its choice of the new Chancellor [DR7.4] III. Renewed Collaboration between the Governing Board and the Chancellor in Setting Goals: In September 2015, the Chancellor arranged a “Team Building” Retreat for the Governing Board. The purpose of the Retreat was to discuss the establishment of a new set of goals based on a foundation of trust and mutual support between Board and Chancellor [DR7.5]. At the Retreat, a performance evaluation process was created that included the formation of formal goals, expected outcomes, and timelines. The Governing Board and the Chancellor agreed that evaluations of both parties would be conducted in Summer 2016. At the December 8, 2015 meeting, the Governing Board and the Chancellor formally adopted goals to support the effective operation of the District to ensure that their respective roles would be adhered to. These goals included: