Remember to put your own text here (same as alt text)Accreditation is one way that universities assure quality. Accreditation is a voluntary, non-governmental process of peer review. The accrediting process examines the university as a whole, the sum of its parts.
It requires the academic institution to meet certain criteria and or standards. In the United States, institutional accreditation is done by region. Cal Poly Pomona is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, or WASC as it is commonly known.
Without accreditation, students would find it difficult, if not impossible to get into quality graduate schools and would not be eligible for many, if not all, federal loan and scholarship programs. In addition, Cal Poly Pomona would suffer a tremendous blow to its national reputation that would negatively affect future employment for our graduates. The bottom line is that WASC accreditation must be taken seriously because the process is not automatic.
Because of the complexity and the rigor of the process, the entire WASC accreditation process takes approximately six years to complete. To accomplish this the university has a WASC Accreditation Steering Committee and two subcommittees, the Capacity and Preparatory Committee and the Educational Effectiveness Committee.
The review process consists of three stages:
"The institution functions with clear purposes, high levels of institutional integrity, fiscal responsibility, and organizational structures to fulfill its purposes.
"The institution evidences clear and appropriate educational objectives and design at the institutional and program level, and employs processes of review, including the collection and use of data, that assure delivery of programs and learner accomplishments at a level of performance appropriate for the degree or certificate awarded.
Stage one, the Institutional Proposal, has been successfully completed and approved by WASC. The Steering Committee developed the proposal, utilizing a survey and unit level discussions regarding the results of the survey to develop themes that will serve as the foundation of the proposal.
This academic year (07-08) finds us squarely in Stage II, The Capacity and Preparatory Review, which will be due July 14, 2008.
The C and PR Committee is chaired by Steven McCauley of the Physics Department and Lisa Rotunni, Director of Academic Resources.
The EE Committee is chaired by Nancy Page Fernandez of the IGE Department and Zuoyue Wang of the History Department.
You will be seeing a great deal of activity by both committees in the coming months.
The WASC Steering Committee and the members of our two Committees cannot accomplish accreditation alone. A successful accreditation needs the support of the entire campus community. Each member of the campus community must educate themselves by first understanding and then actively participating in campus priorities and events.
Therefore, one of the steering committee’s goals is to foster a climate that will lead to the best possible understanding and knowledge of the entire WASC accreditation process and particularly Cal Poly Pomona’s efforts to achieve accreditation. We believe this will lead to a participative process that culminates in a successful accreditation.
The WASC Steering Committee welcomes and appreciates comments and/or suggestions regarding any aspect of WASC preparation.
John T. Self, PhD
Co-Chair, Cal Poly Pomona WASC Steering Committee
John T. Self, PhD Co-Chair, Cal Poly Pomona WASC Steering Committee
Pam Zimmerman WASC Support Coordinator
