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W.A.S.C. accreditation self-study progresses

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By John Shields, Chairman of the W.A.S.C Self-Study Steering Committee

This spring, members of the campus Self-Study Steering Committee are busy drafting "Reflective Essays" about California State University, Fresno's unique and special blend of attributes that make this institution distinctive. The essays are being developed for each of the accreditation themes described in the Self-Study Proposal submitted to the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

The broad-based themes are Opportunity ­ Access to Quality Programs for Diverse Populations; Exploration ­ Discovery of Knowledge, Self, and Society through Expanding Horizons; and Interaction ­ Transformation through Integration of Knowledge and Experience.

A fourth non-thematic essay is being written to address certain Criteria for Review related to the four W.A.S.C. accreditation standards: Institutional Context ­ description of the university history and mission, its organizational structure and governance systems, and other matters related to institutional integrity such as financial management.

These Reflective Essays will comprise the core of the Institutional Capacity Report (inclusive of the supporting Electronic Portfolio). The essays will incorporate links to campus Web sites, source documents and specially written descriptions of key structures and processes as well as exemplar programs. The essays will also reference the WASC standards and related CFR, strategic plan goals, and the university's Institutional Purposes and Educational Goals.

The report and portfolio will be submitted to W.A.S.C. at the close of spring semester and become the basis for the Preparatory Review by an external evaluation team in Fall 2003. Essentially the review team will be rendering a judgment about our institutional capacity to be "educationally effective" ­ the focus of our 2003-04 Self-Study effort.

Last fall, the Self-Study Steering Committee directed its attention to W.A.S.C. Standard #1 that requires a university to define its Institutional Purposes and Educational Objectives. Specifically, the expectation is that, "It has a clear and conscious sense of its essential values and character, its distinctive elements, its place in the higher education community, and its relationship to society at large."

Toward this end a multitude of university documents ­ from proclamations to policies ­ were reviewed to discern the essential elements of the institution's identity. The CSU system Mission Statement and Cornerstone Principles were consulted, as were the Vision and Mission of California State University, Fresno and the individual missions of its colleges/schools. The priorities and goals of the campus Strategic Plan were examined for their congruence with the aforementioned source documents. Additionally, principles of the General Education Program and plans for student learning assessment by academic departments were mined. Institutional values and beliefs embodied in the Academic Policy Manual were also accessed. Finally, language from two formal pronouncements in the university catalog were drawn upon: "The Statement on Campus Climate and Diversity" and "The President's Welcome Message," which reinforces the former.

The committee distilled the core ideas and ideals found in the aforementioned documents and reformulated them into five Institutional Purposes and five Educational Goals. The faculty, staff and administrators drafting the Self-Study are confident these purposes and goals accurately and legitimately reflect what this university represents to its various constituencies.

Coincidentally, upon completing this task committee members realized that each one of the purposes and goals closely fit one of the accreditation themes chosen by California State University, Fresno. Thus, the Reflective Essays will speak to these purposes and goals in a meaningful way.

Additionally, some committee members have been reviewing Student Outcomes Assessment Plans (SOAP) of academic departments to identify common "Learning Objectives" that supplement the aforementioned Educational Goals. Knowing these in a collective sense is important for meeting one of our charges by W.A.S.C. ­ namely, demonstrate institutional "ability to define and sustain educational effectiveness."

Back to University Journal, 3/03 Issue