Pima Community College is spending tens of thousands of dollars to send a large contingent of school officials to its accreditor’s annual conference this weekend.
Twenty-one PCC officials — about twice the usual number — are attending the four-day Higher Learning Commission conference in Chicago at a total potential cost of about $44,000.
The boost in participation comes as PCC is trying to convince its accreditor to give the college a clean bill of health. The school has been under sanctions since 2013 over deficiencies in its administration and governance.
This year’s list of conference-goers includes eight faculty members, four Governing Board members, five administrators and four senior executives including Chancellor Lee Lambert.
“The move to expand the number of people who attend the HLC conference is reflective of the college taking seriously HLC accreditation requirements as an important aspect of being a premier institution,” PCC spokeswoman Libby Howell said.
“Having more people who are knowledgeable about HLC requirements will help us become a better institution.”
This year’s conference takes place at the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Chicago. The event includes presentations on numerous topics such as higher education finance, faculty qualifications and handling institutional change.
Howell said she couldn’t determine the total pricetag for this year’s conference since attendees don’t file expense reports until after the trip.
Expense records from previous years show the conference costs the college around $2,000 for each person who attends.
The HLC placed PCC on probation from 2013 to 2015 due to widespread mismanagement and lax governance. The school remains under a lesser sanction due to lingering morale problems and other issues.
College officials have been working against the clock to put fixes in place before an accreditation review team visits PCC this fall.
