1. Paralegal studies and college accreditation
Take clicker
Pull up mission fulfillment webpage

2. Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) standards
Accreditation handbook: > Publications, Forms and Updates > Accreditation Handbook, 2015 edition Standards for accreditation (2010): > Publications, Forms and Updates > Standards for Accreditation (2010)

3. Most relevant NWCCU standards
Eligibility requirement 11. Educational program: The institution provides one or more educational programs which include appropriate content and rigor consistent with its mission and core themes. The educational program(s) culminate in achievement of clearly identified student learning outcomes, and lead to collegiate-level degree(s) with degree designation consistent with program content in recognized fields of study. 2.B.4 Consistent with its mission, core themes, programs, services, and characteristics, the institution employs appropriately qualified faculty sufficient in number to achieve its educational objectives, establish and oversee academic policies, and assure the integrity and continuity of its academic programs, wherever offered and however delivered. 2.B.6 All faculty are evaluated in a regular, systematic, substantive, and collegial manner at least once within every five-year period of service. The evaluation process specifies the timeline and criteria by which faculty are evaluated; utilizes multiple indices of effectiveness, each of which is directly related to the faculty member’s roles and responsibilities, including evidence of teaching effectiveness for faculty with teaching responsibilities; contains a provision to address concerns that may emerge between regularly scheduled evaluations; and provides for administrative access to all primary evaluation data. Where areas for improvement are identified, the institution works with the faculty member to develop and implement a plan to address identified areas of concern. 2.C.1 The institution provides programs, wherever offered and however delivered, with appropriate content and rigor that are consistent with its mission; culminate in achievement of clearly identified student learning outcomes; and lead to collegiate-level degrees or certificates with designators consistent with program content in recognized fields of study.

4. Most relevant NWCCU standards…continued
2.C.2 The institution identifies and publishes expected course, program, and degree learning outcomes. Expected student learning outcomes for courses, wherever offered and however delivered, are provided in written form to enrolled students. 2.C.3 Credit and degrees, wherever offered and however delivered, are based on documented student achievement and awarded in a manner consistent with institutional policies that reflect generally accepted learning outcomes, norms, or equivalencies in higher education. 2.C.4 Degree programs, wherever offered and however delivered, demonstrate a coherent design with appropriate breadth, depth, sequencing of courses, and synthesis of learning. Admission and graduation requirements are clearly defined and widely published. 2.C.5 Faculty, through well-defined structures and processes with clearly defined authority and responsibilities, exercise a major role in the design, approval, implementation, and revision of the curriculum, and have an active role in the selection of new faculty. Faculty with teaching responsibilities take collective responsibility for fostering and assessing student achievement of clearly identified learning outcomes.

5. Most relevant NWCCU standards…continued
2.C.11 The related instruction components of applied degree and certificate programs (if offered) have identifiable and assessable learning outcomes that align with and support program goals or intended outcomes. Related instruction components may be embedded within program curricula or taught in blocks of specialized instruction, but each approach must have clearly identified content and be taught or monitored by teaching faculty who are appropriately qualified in those areas. 3.A.3 The institution’s comprehensive planning process is informed by the collection of appropriately defined data that are analyzed and used to evaluate fulfillment of its mission. 3.B.3 Core theme planning is informed by the collection of appropriately defined data that are analyzed and used to evaluate accomplishment of core theme objectives. Planning for programs and services is informed by the collection of appropriately defined data that are used to evaluate achievement of the goals or intended outcomes of those programs and services. 4.A.1 The institution engages in ongoing systematic collection and analysis of meaningful, assessable, and verifiable data—quantitative and/or qualitative, as appropriate to its indicators of achievement—as the basis for evaluating the accomplishment of its core theme objectives.

6. Most relevant NWCCU standards…continued
4.A.1 The institution engages in ongoing systematic collection and analysis of meaningful, assessable, and verifiable data—quantitative and/or qualitative, as appropriate to its indicators of achievement—as the basis for evaluating the accomplishment of its core theme objectives. 4.A.2 The institution engages in an effective system of evaluation of its programs and services, wherever offered and however delivered, to evaluate achievement of clearly identified program goals or intended outcomes. Faculty have a primary role in the evaluation of educational programs and services. 4.A.3 The institution documents, through an effective, regular, and comprehensive system of assessment of student achievement, that students who complete its educational courses, programs, and degrees, wherever offered and however delivered, achieve identified course, program, and degree learning outcomes. Faculty with teaching responsibilities are responsible for evaluating student achievement of clearly identified learning outcomes.

7. How WCC applies/maintains processes
Roles of curriculum committee and outcomes assessment committee Curriculum committee process (e.g., textbooks, syllabi, online library resources, county legal library): program information report (paralegal) Program improvement process (academic rigor): blank template Advisory committee comprising practitioners Outcomes assessment report templates… Core learning abilities: information literacy, critical thinking Program outcomes Course outcomes

8. Program Approval Request (PAR) process at SBCTC
Community and technical college program proposals are reviewed and approved by the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) The proposal includes description of student need, advisory committee information, program and course outcomes, curriculum guide Program approval request form

9. WA State Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC)
1 - Bates Technical College
13 - Green River College
25 - Skagit Valley College
2 - Bellevue College
14 - Highline College
26 - South Puget Sound CC
3 - Bellingham Technical College
15 - Lake Washington Institute of Technology
27 - South Seattle College
4 - Big Bend CC
16 - Lower Columbia College
28 - Spokane CC
5 - Cascadia College
17 - North Seattle College
29 - Spokane Falls CC
6 - Centralia College
18 - Olympic College
30 - Tacoma CC
7 - Clark College
19 - Peninsula College
31 - Walla Walla CC
8 - Clover Park Technical College
20 - Pierce College-Fort Steilacoom
32 - Wenatchee Valley College
9 - Columbia Basin College
21 - Pierce College-Puyallup
33 - Whatcom CC
10 - Edmonds CC
22 - Renton Technical College
34 - Yakima Valley CC
11 - Everett CC
23 - Seattle Central College
12 - Grays Harbor College
24 - Shoreline CC

10. Additional colleges accredited by NWCCU
Art Institute of Seattle, Seattle 
Saint Martin's University, Lacey
Bastyr University, Kenmore
Seattle Pacific University, Seattle  
Central Washington University, Ellensburg  
Seattle University, Seattle 
City University of Seattle, Seattle  
The Evergreen State College, Olympia 
Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle 
Trinity Lutheran College, Everett   
Eastern Washington University, Cheney 
University of Puget Sound, Tacoma 
Gonzaga University, Spokane  
University of Washington, Seattle 
Heritage University, Toppenish   
Walla Walla University, College Place 
Northwest Indian College, Bellingham
Washington State University, Pullman  
Northwest University, Kirkland   
Western Washington University, Bellingham
Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma 
Whitman College, Walla Walla 
Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, Yakima 
Whitworth University, Spokane