WASC Undergraduate Education Committee

This page contains information related to the WASC undergraduate education committee.

Background

WASC Process

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) is one of six regional associations that accredit public and private schools, colleges, and universities in the United States. The Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities accredits accredits public and private senior colleges and universities. The accreditation review pro- cess is based on large part on a self-assessment and involves an institutional presentation developed in three stages:

• Stage 1: The Institutional Proposal (due May 2006) - describes what we propose to include in stage 2 and 3 and how we execute our self-assessment
• Stage 2: the Preparatory Review (Fall 2008) - 1-2 day site visit that should evaluate key institutional resources, structures, and processes in the light of the Commission’s Standards. The commission will prepare a report of issues that need to be addressed in the final educational effectiveness review.
• Stage 3: The Educational Effectiveness Review (Fall 2009) - This is a 2-3 day site visit, whose primary purpose is to invite sustained engagement by the institution on the extent to which the institution fulfills its educational objectives.

The cycle of review is intended to be a maximum of ten years, providing institutions a three-year period to complete the process of self review and external evaluation, followed by an extended period of time for sustaining initiatives and recommendations resulting from this process.

More information:

• Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities
• WASC Handbook for Accreditation (137 pages)

Study Areas

For the 2008-09 review, Caltech plans to focus on three areas:

• The Honor System
• Undergraduate Research
• Undergraduate Education

The UG education committee will focus on the third topic and will be responsible for defining what areas we undertake in our self-study and what actions we propose to improve key aspects of undergraduate education at Caltech.

Committee Membership

Faculty Richard Murray, EAS (chair) Marianne Bronner-Fraser, BIO Jean Ensminger, HSS Brad Filippone, PMA Nate Lewis, CCE Niles Pierce, EAS

Students Academics and Research Committee (ARC) Csilla Felsen

Timetable

• 1 May 06: materials due to David Goodstein
  • Outline our proposed assessment area and process
  • Should be 3-4 pages long; will get integrated into full report
• Fall 2006: WASC approves proposal; review cycle begins
• Fall 2008: report on results of self-study; 1-2 day site visit
• Fall 2009: educational assessment due; 2-3 day site visit