Accreditation Visit: OMG! What if they ask me a question?? Accreditation Tri-Chairs: Kelly Irwin Ginni May Don Palm Fall 2015

OMG! What if they ask me a question?? 2

Questions that will be answered today: What is accreditation? What is an accreditation visit? Who will be on the team? How will the visit affect my work? What are they looking for? What might they ask us?

What is Accreditation? Accreditation provides the recognition that education provided by the college meets acceptable levels of quality. Being accredited tells the public and our students that we meet the standards needed for our graduates to gain admission to other reputable institutions of higher learning or to achieve credentials for professional practice. It allows SCC to be eligible to offer federal financial aid to students.

ACCJC Accreditation Requirements Eligibility Requirements Standards Policies Recommendations can result from accreditation reports or visits.

Key theme: Continuous Quality Improvement—how are we using information (data in many forms) to review our processes and improve the college (instruction, student services, and the educational environment)? 6

ACCJC Accreditation Standards Standard I: Institutional Mission and Effectiveness Standard II: Student Learning Programs and Services Standard III: Resources Standard IV: Leadership and Governance 7

Standard I: Institutional Mission and Effectiveness Mission ◦ Defines our educational purposes, student populations, etc. (Who are we and what do we do?) Improving Institutional Effectiveness ◦ Using data to plan for improvement

Standard II: Student Learning Programs and Services Instructional Programs ◦ Degrees, certificates, SLOs, etc. Student Support Services ◦ Counseling, A&R, FA, Orientation, Career services, DSPS, EOPS, etc. Library and Learning Support Services ◦ Library, tutoring, computer labs, information competency, etc. 9

Standard III: Resources Human Resources ◦ Hiring process and policies, determining needed hires, qualifications of personnel, evaluation of personnel, etc. Physical Resources ◦ Sufficient facilities, evaluation of facilities needs, etc. Technology Resources ◦ Sufficient IT resources, evaluation of IT resource needs, planning for upgrades, DE resources, etc. Financial Resources ◦ Fiscal stability, financial planning, accurate information, etc.

Standard IV: Leadership and Governance Decision-making Roles and Processes ◦ Dialogue about college goals, participation in decision- making, governance roles, evaluation of processes, etc. Board and Administrative Organization ◦ Board of Trustees policies and roles, BoT ethics and responsibilities, etc.

What is an accreditation visit? A team of 8 to 13 peer evaluators visit the college for about 4 days to confirm that the college meets the ERs, Standards, and Commission Policies. The visit occurs after the team has read the college’s Self Evaluation Report. 12

The Accreditation Visit Before the visit During the visit After the visit

Before the Accreditation Visit The College: Preparation begins two years before visit Self evaluation report is sent to the team in advance Visit is about a week long Evidence is critical The visiting team: Starts a more than a month before the visit Reads the self-evaluation carefully Spends a lot of time on the website Identifies areas of concern and draft recommendations before they come to the college (they will check on these before making conclusions).

During the Accreditation Visit Typically, each team member focuses on one or two sections of the standards They will have a list of whom they want to visit. They will also talk to people who ask to talk with them. They will look at many kinds of evidence; some evidence will be provided on paper, some as electronic copies. They will be thorough and look at more than just examples of documents, plans, etc. They may visit meetings and classes (face to face and/or DE).

After the Accreditation Visit The team will recommend and then the Commission will take action to do one of the following: Reaffirm accreditation Reaffirm accreditation with Follow-up report Reaffirm accreditation, Follow-up report & visit Defer a decision on reaffirmation of accreditation Issue Warning Impose Probation Show Cause Terminate Accreditation

Reasons for sanction: The most common problems for the colleges on sanction as of Jan 2013 are: ◦ Board roles and responsibilities (17 colleges), ◦ Planning using assessment results (16) ◦ Financial management (13). The ACCJC Spring 2013 newsletter also notes that deficiencies in the following areas are “emerging reasons for sanction” including: ◦ Student Learning Outcomes (9 colleges) ◦ Student Services (7) ◦ Employee Evaluation (7) ◦ Use of Research for Improvement (7) ◦ Mission (7) ◦ Miscellaneous HR deficiencies (8) ◦ Distance Education (5)

Who will be on the team? The Chair is usually a college president or district chancellor. The team assistant is someone chosen by the Chair to assist the Chair and the team. The team members consist of administrators, faculty, board members, and occasionally a classified college employee – all from various colleges in the ACCJC regional area. 18

How will the visit affect my work? Your work should carry on as usual. Team members may come to your work area and ask you questions. Just another day… 19

What are they looking for? Evidence and verification that the college does what they say they do, Evidence that the college follows their policies and processes, Evidence that the college provides quality education and student services, Evidence that the college meets ERs, Standards, and Commission Policies. 20

What is evidence? Institutional databases, research reports and fact books Faculty and student handbooks Catalogues Policy statements Program review documents Planning documents Minutes Syllabi, course outlines, rubrics and other class documents Etc.

What might they ask us? …and do we have to provide them with the answer? The team can ask for anything. If you are unsure of how to respond, let the team member know this, and let them know that you will contact your supervisor, and get back to them ASAP. 22

College reports to ACCJC Midterm Report Annual Report Annual Fiscal Report SLO Report Substantive Change Proposals Self-evaluation Report (This is the big one)

Key points Accreditation requirements: ◦ Must be met at all times. ◦ Require the college to demonstrate “organizational effectiveness and educational quality”. ◦ Require “systematic assessments” that allow the college to improve. ◦ Apply to every college process, action, service and program.

Emerging Emphases Student Achievement measures Use of assessment results in integrated planning Making information available to the public

Measures of student achievement and assessment of learning outcomes: College completion “Quality of graduates” Assessment of course SLOs “Institutionally-set standards” – course success, Fall to Fall persistence, numbers of degrees and certificates, and number of transfers.

Use of assessment results in integrated planning : Measures of student achievement and SLO assessment need to have a clear connection to planning processes. 27

Making information available to the public: This includes making the information available ‘one click away’ from the college homepage. This is aligned with new emphases from the CCCCO and the Federal Government.

Ensuring quality regardless of modality or location: Student outcomes, student success, services available, etc. should be equivalent for all locations or modalities of a course or program. Careful attention to distance education.

Questions? 30

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