|
Westminster Students – Read on to learn more about the Self-Study Process.
What is an Accreditation Self-Study?
Although Westminster has been in the process of completing its 2004 self-study for over two years now, you might not even know what it’s all about. So this overview will give you a basic run-down of what accreditation is all about, why it matters, and what our self-study includes.
All universities and colleges should be accredited, and most—like Westminster--have been for many years; those that aren’t are probably in the process of becoming so. Accreditation is a means of proving that an institution is providing students with an excellent program of study and that it is committed to maintaining a high-quality education. Westminster is accredited by a review board called the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA) that grants accreditation to elementary and secondary schools as well as colleges and universities; the “Higher Learning Commission” is the part of NCA that deals specifically with colleges and universities.
What Does Reaccreditation Mean for Westminster?
Reaccreditation at Westminster takes place approximately every ten years. It isn’t enough for any school to be accredited once (which Westminster was in 1913); rather, we must go through this process on a regular basis in order to review what we have accomplished and look ahead to what we want to achieve in the future. In order to become reaccredited, we go through a long process of review, resulting in a “self-study” of several hundred pages. It is our goal to involve all members of the Westminster community in this process, so we welcome your comments.
Our self-study is entitled "Meeting Challenges and Advancing Quality", which suggests that we wish not only to review our accomplishments, but also to identify challenges and set goals to make ourselves even stronger. You are welcome to read any or all of this study, drafts of which can be found in bound form at the library, or by clicking here. The written document will be complete by January, and in March an evaluation team will come to campus to review all our supporting documents and to talk—with faculty, staff, and students—in order to verify that what we say about ourselves is really so.
What does the Self-Study Document Look Like?
After introducing the College and the self-study process, "Meeting Challenges and Advancing Quality" reviews concerns from the last accreditation process. We want to show that we have addressed the specific challenges identified ten years ago. Then, in five successive chapters, the study identifies the criteria for accreditation set by the NCA and provides extensive evidence that we in fact meet them. Finally, "Meeting Challenges and Advancing Quality" concludes with a discussion of our recommendations for the future. We are particularly interested in you looking over these recommendations since they determine the direction Westminster will take. Please see the Self-Study Summary for a description of the entire document, including the list of recommendations.
How can Students be Involved?
Please take a few minutes and read over the summary and recommendations, picking out five or six recommendations that are most important to you. Then email your list to the director of the project, Dr. Ted Jaeger, explaining your choices as much as you would like. Also, please feel free to read over any part of the self-study and send comments to Dr. Jaeger.
|
