WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES ACCREDITATION STANDARDS AND CRITERIA
FOR REVIEW (CFR)
The four Accreditation Standards described below constitute
the basic standards against which the university is measured
in evaluating its acceptance of the two core commitments. Each
of the standards is expanded by a number of Criteria for Review
(CFRs).
The CFRs are listed on the linked pages and evidentiary links
are provided with those CFR. Those links connect both to the Preparatory
Review Essay and, when prepared, the Educational
Effectiveness Review Essay. For the Preparatory Review,
CFRs which relate solely or in part to the Educational Effectiveness
Review will not have a link but an appropriate indicator.
The institution defines its purposes and establishes educational
objectives aligned with its purposes and character. It has a
clear and conscious sense of its essential values and character,
its distinctive elements, its place in the higher education community,
and its relationship to society at large. Through its purposes
and educational objectives the institution dedicates itself to
higher learning, the search for truth, and the dissemination
of knowledge. The institution functions with integrity and autonomy.
The institution achieves its institutional purposes and attains
its educational objectives through the core functions of teaching
and learning, scholarship and creative activity, and support
for student learning. It demonstrates that these core functions
are performed effectively and that they support one another in
the institution's efforts to attain educational effectiveness.
The institution sustains its operations and supports the achievement
of its educational objectives through its investment in human,
physical, fiscal, and information resources and through an appropriate
and effective set of organizational and decision-making structures.
These key resources and organizational structures promote the
achievement of institutional purposes and educational objectives
and create a high quality environment for learning.
The institution conducts sustained, evidence-based, and participatory
discussions about how effectively it is accomplishing its purposes
and achieving its educational objectives. These activities inform
both institutional planning and systematic evaluations of educational
effectiveness. The results of institutional inquiry, research,
and data collection are used to establish priorities at different
levels of the institution, and to revise institutional purposes,
structures, and approaches to teaching, learning, and scholarly
work.
|
