Founded in 1958, College of the Desert is a two-year community college serving the Coachella Valley. Here's more fun facts about COD.

It's been over a month since College of the Desert's accreditation was reaffirmed for 18 months, contingent on improvements to board behavior.

While the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges commended COD in its report for having a "deep-rooted commitment to student success," it recommended the board of trustees operate cohesively, utilize its self-evaluation tool to strengthen performance and fully delegate authority and responsibility to the superintendent/president without interference.

At Friday's regular board meeting, Corbyn Wild, COD's Academic Senate president and associate professor of English, urged the board to take accountability, warning that inaction puts the college and its students at risk and stating that the Senate expects regular reports on efforts to address concerns.

"Let's be absolutely clear: the burden of fixing these ACCJC identified governance issues does not rest on faculty and staff. It rests on the board," she said. "Transparency is not optional, it is a necessity. This isn't about optics, it's about accreditation, stability and trust. Most of all, it's about our students and community."

Tension arises amid board improvement conversation

The five-member board held a special meeting shortly after, where Melynie Schiel, vice president of accreditation, led a workshop that emphasized the board's policy role.

As board president, Joel Kinnamon later appointed Rubén Pérez and Mark Meyer to an ad hoc committee to address ACCJC's recommendations, with monthly updates on the board's progress and other responsibilities, culminating in a final report to be presented to the board in December 2025.

Seemingly surprised by the decision, Trustee Mary Jane Sanchez-Fulton asked when it was made and expressed interest in serving on the committee, to which Kinnamon commented that he was confident that Pérez and Meyer would represent the board in working with the acting president.

After the special meeting adjourned, Pérez and Sanchez-Fulton had a brief exchange in the boardroom, where he told Sanchez-Fulton that her earlier comments during the ACCJC training wasn't a "good look" given the board's challenges. Sanchez-Fulton emphasized the need for the board to be "one voice," but Pérez said she was missing his point.

Here were three other major takeaways from the ACCJC board training:

Delegated authority ensures the superintendent/president can lead college operations within board-set guidelines

The governing board selects the college's superintendent/president, grants authority to implement policies and operations and ensures alignment with the accreditation standards by requiring clear expectations and delegation of authority.

"As you all know, as a board, you have one employee, which is your president, or your CEO," Schiel said. "And you know, keeping (or) not keeping the president, that's your way of effecting change if you don't see the mission of the institution being adhered to, or you want to see a different direction."

In response to Trustee Ron Oden's question about the consequences for an institution not following the standard, Schiel said every board has policies for situations where it believes it is not following its own guidelines. She clarified that the ACCJC does not set these policies, but rather the board.

Focusing on 'what' rather than 'how' keeps the board within its policy scope

Schiel reviewed key questions for the board to assess its effectiveness and emphasized that focusing on the "what" instead of the "how" helps meet these expectations, including:

"If you find yourself getting into how something should be done at the institution, you're probably not staying at the policy level," she said.

High-functioning boards must prioritize continuous improvement and the public's trust

As board members, Schiel said, being a high-functioning board is important because they ultimately represent the public's trust.

"You're appointed. You have fiduciary responsibility to the institution and you're expected to serve all stakeholders associated with the institution," she said. "And so, really focusing on the broad mission the college is important for every board."

As for the expectation of ongoing board improvement, Schiel said board members, individually and collectively, can continually ask themselves what they can do to enhance their effectiveness, support the CEO's success and help the college succeed, while also considering what the board can do better at the policy level.

Also at this meeting: Board hires interim vice president of administrative services

In other COD news, the board unanimously approved a one-year employment agreement for Raymond "Chip" West III as interim vice president of administrative services, effective Feb. 24. He will earn $281,725.68 and receive a one-time $2,500 relocation allowance. Rodrigo Garcia, who joined Saddleback Community College in Mission Viejo in January, previously held this role.

West most recently served as executive vice president of business services at Long Beach City College, where he oversaw districtwide fiscal, facilities, business and technology services. He has also held leadership positions at the University of La Verne and Riverside City College.

He holds a bachelor's degree in education from George Mason University, a master's degree in higher education/personnel management from the University of Arizona, as well as a doctoral degree in higher education administration and finance from Claremont Graduate University.

During board remarks, Meyer suggested that the college should not yet search for or hire permanent executive roles until the new president/superintendent is hired. (Semifinalist interviews are set for the week of March 31, followed by finalist interviews the week of April 28, with the board expected to approve the new permanent president/superintendent at either the May 16 or June 12 board meeting.)

Permanent positions for the public information officer and vice president of instruction roles have, however, been posted on the college's job portal, though these positions are currently being filled on an interim basis.