An independent report commissioned by DC Appleseed and the Brookings Institution has concluded that it is “critical to the success and sustainability of” the new Community College of the District of Columbia to sever ties with the University of the District of Columbia. UDC, which has always had plenty of problems balancing the hefty costs of a four-year university and its open-enrollment-assisted reputation as a two-year college, split focus in August into the University and the Community College. Both operations still operate under UDC’s administration.

The findings certainly don’t shy away from its recommendation that CCDC make a clean break, suggesting the college seek out new relationships with more reliable suburban colleges in order to supplement the institution through its first formative years. The Post has the real stomach punch quote:

The 60-page report…pulls no punches, stating that UDC “has been troubled by a distrustful faculty, high administrative overhead, poorly maintained and outdated facilities, chronic mismanagement and internal dissension, and unacceptably low completion and graduation rates.”

Ouch. For their part, UDC officials “said they agree with some of the findings,” according to the Post, but they disagree that CCDC needs to break away in order to succeed. The full report, along with testimony from yesterday’s D.C. Council round table on the recommendations, can be found here.