Western Association of Schools and Colleges

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Tools and Requirements for Spring 2012 Visits

Please review the following list to ascertain which of these tools and requirements apply to your upcoming visit.

Publication of Reports and Action Letters for Spring 2012 Visits

At its November 2011 meeting, the Commission took action to make team reports and action letters public. Beginning with decisions made by the Commission at its June 2012 meeting, action letters and the related team reports will be posted to the WASC website. The team’s confidential recommendation to the Commission about the status of the institution and other reports and documents will remain confidential. Institutions may provide a response to the action, and WASC will post a link to this response. The revised policies to effectuate this important Commission policy will be circulated to the region for comment and approved with any additional changes at the February 2012 Commission meeting.

The Commission has confidence in the quality of team reports as they are currently written. Teams are advised, as always, to utilize the templates for team reports, which provide guidance about the content and coverage of reports and expectations about the appropriate scope and writing style for reports. See the link below under #7 for the report templates. Team training materials also contain guidelines on report preparation.

We will continue to follow current process for the preparation of report, which calls for the Assistant Chair and Chair to complete the first draft of the report just after the visit and to share it with the assigned WASC vice president prior to sending it to the institution for factual corrections. Staff will check the report, as always, to ensure that it comports with the Commission’s expectations as reflected in the evaluator training materials and report templates.

In keeping with current WASC policy, team members agree to keep all information about the institution and visit confidential. This obligation continues after the visit is over. If team members are contacted by anyone, including the media or people from the institution that they visited, asking questions about the visit, they should not provide any information and should refer the inquiry to the institution or to the WASC office.

The Commission is strongly committed to making accreditation processes and decisions more transparent, in order to promote better understanding about the value, rigor and process of accrediting institutions and to enhance WASC’s and our institutions’ accountability to the public.

2008 Revisions to the Criteria for Review and Institutional Review Process

Changes in the CFRs and Institutional Review Process were adopted by the Commission in 2008. All institutions need to address the CFR revisions and new subject matter requirements in their visit reports. Teams are required to review this material and address it, as appropriate, in the team report. In particular, please be sure that the institution’s report and the team report address the new requirements regarding graduation and retention, making student achievement data public, and program review.

Standards and Criteria for Review

The CFRs referred to above are part of the Standards of Accreditation (see Section II of the WASC Handbook of Accreditation). “Standards at a Glance” summarizes the Standards in table format so that you can easily search for CFRs. “Expectations for Two Reviews” clarifies the distinctions between the CPR and EER visits and explains how they apply to student learning outcomes and assessment.

Compliance Audit Checklist 

This checklist must be completed for candidacy, initial accreditation and most special visits. If required, the team should complete this document, noting any missing items, and attach it as an appendix to the team report.

Evaluating Program Review on EER Visits

WASC has developed an “audit” approach to evaluating program reviews that is a systematic way for teams to examine both the effectiveness of program review and assessment of student learning during EER visits. The approach integrates a number of WASC’s other forms and rubrics. The assessment-related rubrics cover five areas - Program Review, Portfolios, Capstones, General Education, and Program Learning Outcomes.

Educational Effectiveness Framework

Institutions and teams use this tool to assess educational effectiveness. EER and Pathway B teams use the framework by marking on the framework form where the institution falls in each category/line. The Assistant Chair sends this annotated document to the assigned WASC vice president. These forms are not shown to the institutions but are used by WASC staff to learn more about how institutions are addressing educational effectiveness, what their challenges are, and how WASC might support teams in evaluating educational effectiveness.

Team Report Directions and Formats

There are separate formats for CPR, EER, Pathway B, and Special Visits. Teams should use the relevant report template for the type of visit they are on and are encouraged to type directly into the document, replacing the template instructions with the report text. This saves time, and helps to ensure that the report follows the required organization and headings and addresses the key questions.

Preliminary Team Report Narrative 

Team members are encouraged to prepare an outline of the team report and start drafting their sections of the report prior to the visits. Doing so serves to clarify issues and helps teams to prepare more effectively for the visit.

Guidelines for Drafting Preliminary Report Narratives Prior to Visit

Preliminary Team Report Narrative 

Team members are encouraged to prepare an outline of the team report and start drafting their sections of the report prior to the visits. Teams have found that this helps them to identify issues more clearly and to prepare more effectively. Teams are encouraged to do this pre-visit drafting again this term. Please see these instructions:

• Credit Hour Policy
• Credit Hour Review – Team Report Appendix