Two Valley community colleges were warned by the regional accreditation commission for stalled planning efforts and lacking clear leadership, according to recent reports.

The warning means the colleges -- Fresno City and Reedley -- are not fully compliant with accreditation standards -- a set of requirements that ensures colleges offer quality education programs -- and must make improvements, but they have not lost their accreditation.

Some faculty at City College and Reedley say this is the second time the colleges have taken the fall for failures by district officials, who at times have cut colleges out of important decisions and been slow to make plans for the district's future.

"As far as we can tell, the district is just doing their own thing, and not talking to anyone else about it," said Wendell Stephenson, a City College instructor and member of the Academic Senate.

A spokeswoman for State Center Community College District said much work has been done to improve planning since Chancellor Deborah Blue took office in the summer of 2010 -- they just need some more time.

"There is still more work to be done and we fully intend to complete the work and become a stronger district as result," spokeswoman Teresa Patterson wrote in an email.

Willow International Community College Center, another campus in the State Center Community College District, also hit a snag it its efforts to become an accredited college.

The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges deferred Willow's candidacy to become an independent college because it doesn't have a full-time president and needs to improve some areas of its instruction, according to the report.

Willow is one of three centers in the district -- all overseen by Vice Chancellor Terry Kershaw -- and now operates as part of Reedley College.

Each campus was cited for its own problems -- and commended for its successes -- during last October's evaluation by the accreditation team.

But among the three, there was one common deficiency that frustrated faculty -- that the district must do a better job in leading and coordinating among campuses.

"The sad thing," said City College history instructor Paul Gilmore in an email, "is the great job we do in our central mission, the day-to-day work of actually educating students, will be overshadowed by the warning concerning district planning and communication."

While individual colleges must be evaluated regularly to keep their accreditation, Gilmore said, college districts do not. So City College "is on the hook" for the district's shortcomings, he said.

City College received a warning in the 2005 accreditation for the same problem -- that the district wasn't doing enough to coordinate among campuses and develop a district-wide plan.

College faculty said they would be working hastily until October -- the deadline for implementing the accreditation team's recommendations. Willow also will have a chance to reapply in October.

The district responded to the accreditation report -- issued earlier this month -- with details of the projects that Blue has under way. Among them: a strategic plan that will outline a vision for the whole district for the next four years.

Some faculty said that the warning was the push the district needed to move along plans for new construction, technology and instruction -- which should help the colleges get a better rating in the fall.

"Things are starting to happen," said City College Academic Senate President Claudia Habib. "Not all of it, and it's not perfect, but the conversations are happening."

If the colleges miss the October deadline, they'll have more chances to improve before losing accreditation.

It's "extremely rare" for any college to lose accreditation, according to a spokesman from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, a branch of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The commission has terminated accreditation for four colleges in the two states where it works -- California and Hawaii.

Reedley and City College aren't likely candidates for termination -- they were both commended in the reports for their successes in teaching and providing students services. The City College Associated Government also got a nod for its service and leadership.

Student trustee Christopher Coronado said he hopes the acknowledgment will give them more clout with college officials, and open up new opportunities for student leaders to weigh in on district decisions.

"We take our role really seriously," he said. "We've always wanted the district and the campus to take us seriously."

SETTING IT STRAIGHT: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that Reedley College had received a warning during its 2005 accreditation evaluation. The college did not receive a warning, it only had to submit a progress report to the accrediting commission.