WEST WINDSOR >> Mercer County Community College is on shaky ground.
The West Windsor college, which operates a satellite campus in Trenton, is in jeopardy of losing it accreditation, according to a Nov. 19 report from the Middles State Commission on Higher Education.
The Middle States, a nonprofit that performs accreditations on colleges and universities, found in June that MCCC was lacking evidence that it was in compliance of institutional effectiveness and assessment of student learning standards.
While under warning, MCCC will keep its accreditation until the college completes a required monitoring report due on March 1, 2016. The report must document evidence that MCCC is in compliance of the standards, the Middle States outlined.
MCCC President Jianping Wang, who took over the position on July 1, did not return a message seeking comment.
When reached for comment, Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes tried to downplay the situation.
“This is pretty standard,” Hughes claimed Wednesday. “The only thing un-standard was that we had a change of college presidents in the middle of the reporting period.”
But the Middle States is asking for a hefty list of information, which includes comprehensive documentation of assessment information used in budgeting, planning and allocating resources for institutional effectiveness, and evidence of student achievement in key institutional and program learning outcomes, the report said.
Furthermore, the report must document steps taken “to promote a culture of evidence-based planning and decision-making” and “faculty leadership in the assessment of student learning outcomes.”
Hughes said MCCC’s Board of Trustees received a preliminary draft report at Tuesday’s meeting that showed how the college was going to comply with the March 1 deadline.
“They intend to finalize that report by the February meeting and have it ready for the March deadline,” Hughes said, noting he is not worried “at all” about the college’s situation. “I believe they’re fully capable of replying to both those standards and to pass both of those standards.”
The college, however, has been in the hot seat in recent months.
In October, Wang signed a resolution from the U.S. Department of Education that MCCC would meet federal discrimination requirements. MCCC agreed to review all sexual harassment complaints filed since the 2014-15 school year to ensure they were handled appropriately.
That same month, the college president admitted MCCC’s electrician, a union boss, performed work at her house over the summer. The side job was a potential violation of the college’s ethics policy due to looming contract talks.
In October, Wang told The Trentonian she was “very sorry” for the situation.
“But I honestly did not know that it should have not happened,” she said at the time. “I certainly will be very careful going forward.”
Hughes defended Wang, who previously served as Ocean County Community College’s vice president before joining MCCC.
“We have a dynamic new college president who is improving what had been in the past an adversarial relationship between the administration and groups on the campus,” he said. “Now, she’s improving that relationship.”
MCCC has been a Middle States member since 1967 and was last reaffirmed on Nov. 18, 2010.
