2.  The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is a voluntary, non-governmental, membership association that is dedicated to quality assurance and improvement through accreditation via peer evaluation. Middle States accreditation instills public confidence in institutional mission, goals, performance, and resources through its rigorous accreditation standards and their enforcement.

3.  TEACHING includes analytical, communication, and other basic “lifelong learning” college skills, expertise in the “major” field, and additional courses needed for the type of education it offers. Students’ learning is assessed.  FEDERAL FUNDS FOR STUDENTS are available to students of colleges accredited by federally recognized accreditors.  RESOURCES, FUNDING AND SERVICES are available as needed, such as faculty, equipment, and student services.  CREDIT TRANSFER AND DEGREE ACCEPTANCE BY EMPLOYERS and OTHER COLLEGES will probably be facilitated because a college’s accreditation is usually considered.  MANAGEMENT is performed by appropriate staff.  EXPERTS are used in reviewing the college, such as professors and college presidents.

4.  Full self-study once every 10 years; decision on reaccreditation.  Five-years after accreditation decision, a Periodic Review Report to report on progress since accreditation decision.

5.  Steering Committee of faculty and staff  Steering Committee members chaired the nine working groups of faculty, staff and students to research the self-study outcomes and gather evidence of how the institution meets the accreditation standards

6.  1. Mission and Goals  2. Planning, Resource Allocation, and Institutional Renewal  3. Institutional Resources  4. Leadership and Governance  5. Administration  6. Integrity  7. Institutional Assessment

7.  8. Student Admissions and Retention  9. Student Support Services  10. Faculty  11. Educational Offerings  12. General Education  13. Related Educational Activities  14. Assessment of Student Learning

8.  Affirm the University’s Mission; assess alignment with the Plan for Excellence; lay groundwork for the new strategic plan  Document Institutional Policies and Procedures  Identify Strengths and Challenges  Make Recommendations for Improvement

9.  The Creating a Shared Vision website, www.wcupa.edu/sharedvision/middlestates, a centralized forum to communicate to the university community about the self-study process, and the work of other task forces and working groups related to the University’s vision for the future. www.wcupa.edu/sharedvision/middlestates

10.  March 21 - 23, 2011  Nine team members representing expertise in discrete areas of higher education  PASSHE representative  Site visit will end with an oral report by the Chair of the Evaluation Team  Written report; opportunity to review and comment  MSCHE reviews all team reports in this cycle in June 2011

12.  Assess the understanding and implementation of, effectiveness of, and accountability for distributed leadership across divisions. Following this investigation, develop a communication plan to make clear how distributed leadership can best function to serve our students and the University across all divisions.

13.  Refine the budgeting process in order to strengthen the link among planning, assessment, and resource allocation; provide greater flexibility for WCU to move resources across divisions; and address the accumulation of surplus rollover revenue in order to allocate to emerging needs.

14.  Create an institutional assessment structure with clearly specified goals, measures, procedures, and outcomes for all units, as well as a mechanism for communicating results and subsequent actions based on assessment results. Assessment of student learning and student support services would be one component of this structure for assessing institutional effectiveness.

15.  Improve academic advising for all students (undergraduate, graduate, transfer, and nondegree).

16.  Ensure sufficient support for faculty scholarship and teaching.

17.  Read (at least some of) the self-study  Executive Summary  Conclusions and recommendations  The standards that speak to your “area”  Become familiar with the recommendations  Participate in meetings as scheduled with individual team members (schedule in development now)  Attend open forums with members of the evaluation team