WASC update

By John Shields
Chair, WASC Self-Study Steering Committee

The accreditation self-study on the educational effectiveness of programs at California State University, Fresno was completed in July 2004.   This report will be a basis of the external review by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) in mid-October, when a site visit team arrives on campus to conduct an evaluation of the institutional commitment to educational effectiveness as a follow up to its earlier review of the university’s institutional capacity to be educationally effective.

Under the banner of the campus accreditation themes of Opportunity, Exploration and Interaction, the WASC self-study steering committee identified six research questions for investigation by subgroups of its membership: (A) How does the university advance student learning and its own improvement in achieving student learning?   (B) How effective are academic and student support programs in meeting the needs of first-year undergraduates and improving retention and graduation rates?   (C) How effectively has the university integrated the use of technology to support teaching and learning?   (D) How has the expansion of faculty research, scholarship, and creative activity affected the learning environment?   (E) How has the university’s community engagement affected students?   (F) How productively is the university engaged with the community?

The Educational Effectiveness Review Report can be found online at http://www.csufresno.edu/portfolio, which serves as the campus accreditation Web site.