Accreditation 101 Julie Bruno Sierra College Glenn Yoshida

Accreditation 101 Julie Bruno, Sierra College Glenn Yoshida, Los Angeles Southwest College Roberta Eisel, Citrus College, facilitator Susan Clifford, ACCJC, resource Academic Senate for California Community Colleges Accreditation Institute February 10, 2012 1

Accreditation 101: Purpose n provide an overview of the ACCJC Accreditation Standards and a global understanding of the accreditation process Outcome n increased comfort in helping your college successfully meet the standards and provide the best possible education for your students. 2

What is Accreditation? Accreditation is the process for evaluating and assuring the quality of education used by the American higher education community. 3

Accreditation Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, (ACCJC) Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) 2002 Standards 2011 Updates and coming soon … 2012 review of Standards 4

Which of the following is true of accreditation? A. B. C. D. E. It compares colleges to best practices in education. It punishes colleges based upon audits. It grades and ranks colleges based on standards. It is a means of monitoring colleges. It guarantees the quality of education to the federal government and the public. 5

Who participates in accreditation processes? A. B. C. D. E. Faculty Administration Classified Staff Students All of the above 6

What role do faculty play in the accreditation report? A. B. C. D. E. Representation on committees Writing the report Validating the accuracy of the report to the student perspective Meeting with Accreditation team visitors All of the above 7

How many California community colleges are currently on some form of sanction, as of January 2011? A. None B. 5 -6 colleges C. 10 colleges D. 21 colleges E. 32 colleges 8

Reasons colleges have been placed on sanction as of January 2011 Program review problems (4 ) n Planning using assessment results (15 ) n Board roles and responsibilities ( 14) n Internal governance issues (5 ) n Financial management or stability ( 13) n (Source: ACCJC News, Summer 2011) 9

Deficiencies Causing Sanctions (Source: ACCJC News, Summer 2011) 10

Accreditation is a voluntary system of self regulation developed to evaluate overall educational quality and institutional effectiveness and assures… n the public that accredited colleges meet the standards n education earned is of value to the student n employers, trade or profession-related licensing agencies, and other colleges and universities can accept a student’s credentials as legitimate 11

ACCJC assures the educational community, the general public, and other organizations and agencies that an institution… n has clearly defined objectives appropriate to higher education n has established conditions under which their achievement can reasonably be expected appears in fact to be accomplishing them substantially n n is so organized, staffed, and supported that it can be expected to continue to do so; and demonstrates that it meets Accreditation Standards 12

Accreditation Standards Standard I: Institutional Mission and Effectiveness Standard II: Student Learning Programs and Services A. Instruction B. Student Services C. Library 13

Accreditation Standards Standard III: Resources Human, fiscal, physical, technology Standard IV: Leadership and Governance 14

Accreditation Themes Institutional commitments Evaluation planning and improvement Student learning outcomes Organization Dialogue Institutional integrity 15

Processes – what we do across the standards Program Review n Planning n Resource Allocation n Decision-Making n Assessment n Evaluation of the process n Improvement n 16

Fast forward from 2002 to 2011. . From self study and planning agendas to Self evaluation and actionable improvement plans 17

New ACCJC Manuals Manual for Institutional Self Evaluation n Team Evaluator Manual n Substantive Change Manual n Guide to Evaluating Institutions n Colleges with comprehensive visits in fall 2012 and beyond are required to use the new manuals. 18

Tools for colleges MANUAL FOR INSTITUTIONAL SELF EVALUATION Assessing Educational Quality and Institutional Effectiveness June 2011 19

The manual addresses. . Institutional commitments n Accreditation standards and rubrics n The self evaluation process n Self evaluation report for educational quality and institutional effectiveness n The site visit n External evaluation report and commission decision n 20

2011: Self Evaluation n Your college will conduct an Educational Quality and Institutional Effectiveness Review. Institutional Self Evaluation Report n a written analysis of strengths and weaknesses of educational quality and institutional effectiveness based on the institution’s continuous evaluation and quality improvement activities which have been considered in the self evaluation process 21

Structure of the analysis of each of the Standards Descriptive summary n Self evaluation n – analyze and systematically evaluate its performance against the Accreditation Standards and its institutional mission. n Actionable improvement plans – integrated into the institution’s continuous evaluation and planning processes. 22

Provide evidence of. . n n n Student achievement Student learning outcomes and assessment Quality program review Quality of student support services Financial performance and integrity Evidence of compliance with other areas related to federal requirements* 23

Colleges and visiting teams are to use… Guide to Evaluating Institutions * “Implementation of New U. S. D. E. Regulations” (see also ACCJC Fall 2011 Newsletter) 24

So then, when accreditation works well. . Every constituency is involved n The college does a rigorous and honest self evaluation n Courses and programs are reviewed for usefulness and currency n Student pathways are reviewed n Budgeting, planning, and revenue allocation processes are examined n 25

Who makes all this happen? n Existing committees and processes – Curriculum – SLO and assessment – Program review – Research – Planning – Departments and divisions – Governance processes (Senate!) 26

Resources Goodies in your ebinder n www. accjc. org n www. asccc. org n 27

Comments? Questions? Best wishes as you help lead your college in this critical and valuable process! 28