1. Welcome to the Year Seven and Mid-Cycle Evaluation Workshops
Doubletree Hotel Seattle Airport
March 9th, 2017
NWCCU |

2. Brief History of Accreditation
Government had little influence over higher education until the middle of the 20th century

3. History
Late 19th century college and universities form voluntary, non-profit (non-governmental) membership organizations basically to deal with admission issues NEASC 1885 NWCCU 1917

4. History In 1919 ACE published a list of standards:
Admit high school graduates
120 hours for baccalaureate
at least 100 students
8 department heads
Professors taught no more that 16 hours per week in classes of no more than 30 students
operating income of $50K
At least 8000 books in library

5. History
The passage of three pieces of legislation are the catalyst that would change the nature of accreditation
1944 GI Bill Serviceman’s Readjustment Act

6. History The Veterans Readjustment Act VRAA
1958 National Defense Education Act
NDEA

7. History National Defense Education Act included:
Legislation requiring that funds must be used at a higher education institution
In order for an institution to be eligible to receive federal funds, it must be accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting body
Accreditation was now mandatory (Chambers, Federal Government and Accreditation 1983)

8. History
Office of Education creates a list of nationally approved accrediting agencies.
Regional accreditors become the primary agencies

9. History
1965 during the Johnson administration the role of government in relation to higher education is redefined and codified with the passage of the Higher Education Act of 1965

10. History
Current Context

11. Mission of NWCCU
assure educational quality, enhance institutional effectiveness, and foster continuous improvement

12. Mission
Four major components of the accreditation process Mission: Statement of intended purpose (end) Compliance: Inputs/outputs /processes (means) Outcomes: Student learning outcomes Improvement: Enhanced effectiveness

13. The Seven Year Cycle Mission-centric Outcomes based
Encourage on-going self-evaluation
Create a clear process between planning and resource allocation guided by assessment
Provide evidence of mission fulfillment particularly related to student learning

14. A Word on Assessment
“If all of an assessment program’s resources are devoted to gathering evidence and none toward making sense of and using the evidence, no change is likely to occur.”
Charles Blaich and Kathleen Wise, Center of Inquiry, Wabash College

15. The Seven Year Cycle Year One: Mission and Core Themes
Mid-Cycle: Formative Evaluation of assessment of mission fulfillment
Year Seven: Mission Fulfillment and Sustainability

16. The Standards 24 Eligibility Requirements
5 Standards (with subsections)
Policies