(a) The accreditation framework shall include common standards that relate to aspects of program quality that are the same for all credential programs. The framework shall also include multiple options for program standards.

(b) The accreditation framework shall include provisions regarding well-trained accreditation teams whose members shall be drawn from a pool of California college and university faculty members and administrators, elementary and secondary school teachers and other certificated professionals, and local school board members. For each accreditation visit there shall be one team, whose size, composition, and expertise shall be constituted according to the accreditation framework.

(c) An accreditation team shall present its report and recommendations to the Committee on Accreditation in accordance with the accreditation framework. The committee shall consider the accreditation team report and recommendations, and shall also consider evidence, which may be submitted by the institution, that the team demonstrated bias or acted arbitrarily or capriciously or contrary to the policies of the accreditation framework or the procedural guidelines of the committee.

(d) The Committee on Accreditation shall make a single decision to accredit, to accredit with stipulations, or to deny accreditation to an institution’s credential programs, pursuant to Section 44373 and the accreditation framework.

(e) An institution has the right to appeal to the commission if the procedures or decisions of an accreditation team or the Committee on Accreditation are arbitrary, capricious, unfair, or contrary to the policies of the commission or the procedural guidelines of the committee. An institution also has the right to recommend changes in the accreditation policies of the commission, which shall be considered by the commission in consultation with the executive director and the Committee on Accreditation.

(f) At the request of an institution, the accreditation of an education unit or a specific program by a national accrediting body shall substitute for state accreditation provided that the national accrediting body has satisfied the applicable conditions set forth in the accreditation framework.

(Repealed and added by Stats. 1993, Ch. 426, Sec. 9. Effective January 1, 1994.)