Category Archives: community

accreditation, college, community

Accreditation

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This morning the accreditation team was in town for the local community college. As a local politician (and long time member of the college’s Foundation board) I was invited to the community interview part.  Pretty much the standard thing.

College accreditation is one of those “voluntary” things that really isn’t.  Almost all federal monies and scholarships require the accreditation.  So I have a deep suspicion that there are very few colleges who choose to not be accredited and make any claims to legitimacy.
Most of the accreditation process is verification – does the institution really have the facilities and faculty they claim, do they offer the programs they claim, etc.  But another part is advice for improvement.  After all, accreditation committees are fountains of experienced experts that make recommendations for future improvement.  Sort of like having a team of expert hired guns available for free.  And a final part is “challenges” in which the evaluators point out things that they think must be fixed if the institution is to remain viable.

The process is well organized and useful to the institution and to the consumer.  After all, you really would like some assurance that juniors education is really what it claimed to be. But the community interview part always makes me wonder about some things. Do community members (who are invited by the college to be interviewed by the accreditation team) ever really stand up and rip into the college?  It doesn’t seem like it would happen often, does it?  How bad would the college’s relations with the local community have to be to cause that kind of a rift.  And how insane would the community members have to be to down-mark one of the prime economic engines in their community? In every such meeting I have been a part of, the hard part is to get the community members to stop gushing forth on how good the college is for the community. I suspect that this is even more prevalent is a rural area like this where the college is a major community icon.
In my discussion with the leader of the accreditation team after the interview, I asked him if he ever ran into the rabid anti-college community faction during these reviews.  He surprised me greatly when he said that it happened from time to time.  Sort of like shooting your own foot off. Really makes you wonder at times, doesn’t it. Were the community invites issued by someone at the college with an axe to grind? Was it a case of bad student/townie interactions? Or are there just a whole lot of insane people running loose out there?
community, instituions, persistence

Long lasting institutions

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I was a guest of honor today as the local Masonic Temple celebrated their 125th anniversary. The Masons were actually chartered and established in 1883, one year before the town itself was officially chartered!
The program included an overview of the history of the lodge and of their quarters through the years, including the construction of the current building.  I remember the construction of the current building from visits home during my college and graduate school years. It also highlighted the many charitable causes and community efforts they have been involved in over the last century and a quarter.  An amazing body of work, especially the efforts related to children and their well being.
The fact that this organization has been an important part of the area for so long led me to think about some of the other community organizations that have been active over similar time spans. The only other organizations I could quickly think of that were started in the 1800’s and are still an active part of the community today are all churches or church related.  Most of the other service clubs such as the Lions and Kiwanis all came later in the 1900’s.  Even my own roots in the area trace back no further than the WWI era when my great grandfather homesteaded here. (An interesting story in its own right that I may explore in another post.)
Are there organizations in your town that are as old or older than the town itself? Are they still an active part of the community?  Tell me about them. I think it is fascinating to hear about such long lived organizations and their influences on the communities they serve.