Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities
Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities
Starting in Fall 2010, teams will be examining marketing materials and recruitment practices during Capacity and Preparatory Reviews and on other visits at the discretion of the team. The teams will review materials, talk with students and staff, and examine further if additional exploration of this area is warranted. Please see the August 16, 2010 Memorandum to ALOs and CEOs from Ralph Wolff for more about the need for attention to this new responsibility for visiting teams.
In response to recent Senate hearings on fraud and abuse in the recruitment processes at some for-profit institutions of higher education, Ralph Wolff sent a letter to the CEOs and ALOs of WASC's institutions. This letter outlines WASC's expectations of integrity in all operations at its accredited institutions and highlights several steps that will be taken toward strengthening its current practices to monitor institutional integrity.
On August 2, 2010, WASC submitted a letter to the Department of Education to comment on the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) posted in the Federal Register on June 18, 2010. (Docket ID-2010-OPE-0004). Click here to see the full text of this letter.
At its meeting on June 16-18, the Accrediting Commission took action on 28 institutions and approved 10 substantive change applications.
Click here for a copy of the full list of actions.
July, 2010 -- In preparation for fall 2010 visits, WASC has posted a variety of reference materials for institutions and teams. If you will be hosting a visit or participating as a team member in spring 2010, you may download all applicable documents at: Fall 2010 Visit Tools and Requirements .
The Department of Education has issued new regulations that will have a significant impact on all accredited institutions and accrediting agencies. While the draft regulations are 500 pages long, there are three regulations that we believe will affect our institutions the most:
This draft task force report has been designed to provide guidance to institutions that are seeking to understand patterns of retention and graduation and to develop programs to support students to timely graduation.
The task force will be presenting and discussing the draft report at the ALO workshop at the WASC Academic Resource Conference, on April 21, 2010.
You may access the report at: Task Force Report on Student Success
The Nominating Committee of the Association of Schools and Colleges has presented a final slate of nominees to the region for the 2010 Commission Election. Chief Executive Officers of all WASC-accredited institutions are asked to cast their votes for the nominees, no later than Friday, April 9, 2010. Copies of the election ballot have been emailed to all member CEOs and may also be downloaded from the Commission Elections section of the WASC website.
December, 2009 -- In preparation for spring 2010 visits, WASC has posted a variety of reference materials for institutions and teams. If you will be hosting a visit or participating as a team member in spring 2010, you may download all applicable documents at: Spring 2010 Visit Tools and Requirements .
Within the past few years, institutions of higher education have come under increasing criticism for an alleged lack of transparency and accountability. This criticism was reflected in the 2006 report of the Commission on the Future of Higher Education in the United States, commonly known as the Spellings Commission Report, and surfaced repeatedly in the Congressional debates leading to the 2008 reauthorization of the Higher Education Opportunity Act.