College of San Mateo

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WASC Accreditation Standards

Accreditation Standards

Standard I: Institutional Mission and Effectiveness
The institution demonstrates strong commitment to a mission that emphasizes achievement of student learning and to communicating the mission internally and externally. The institution uses analyses of quantitative and qualitative data and analysis in an ongoing and systematic cycle of evaluation, integrated planning, implementation, and re-evaluation to verify and improve the effectiveness by which the mission is accomplished.

Standard II: Student Learning Programs and Services
The institution offers high-quality instructional programs, student support services, and library and learning support services that facilitate and demonstrate the achievement of stated student learning outcomes. The institution provides an environment that supports learning, enhances student understanding and appreciation of diversity, and encourages personal and civic responsibility as well as intellectual, aesthetic, and personal development for all of its students.

Standard III: Resources
The institution effectively uses its human, physical, technology, and financial resources to achieve its broad educational purposes, including stated student learning outcomes, and to improve institutional effectiveness.

Standard IV: Leadership and Governance
The institution recognizes and utilizes the contributions of leadership throughout the organization for continuous improvement of the institution. Governance roles are designed to facilitate decisions that support student learning programs and services and improve institutional effectiveness, while acknowledging the designated responsibilities of the governing board and the chief administrator.

Accreditation Themes:

1. Institutional Commitments
2. Evaluation, Planning and Improvement
3. Student Learning Outcomes
4. Organization
5. Dialogue
6. Institutional Integrity

Shaping the Dialogue

The primary purpose of an ACCJC-accredited institution is to foster learning in its students. An effective institution ensures that its resources and processes support student learning, continuously assesses that learning, and pursues institutional excellence and improvement. An effective institution maintains an ongoing, self reflective dialogue about its quality and improvement.

An institution-wide dialogue must be at the heart of the self-evaluation process for the college community to gain a comprehensive perspective of the institution. Although the standards are presented in four parts, they work together to facilitate this dialogue on the institution’s effectiveness and on ways in which it may improve. The self study provides the Commission with the institution’s assessment of itself as a whole.

The institutional mission provides the impetus for achieving student learning and other goals that the institution endeavors to accomplish. The institution provides the means for students to learn, assesses how well learning is occurring, and strives to improve that learning through ongoing, systematic, and integrated planning (Standard I). Instructional programs, student support services, and library and learning support services facilitate the achievement of the institution’s stated student learning outcomes (Standard II). Human, physical, technology, and financial resources enable these programs and services to function and improve (Standard III). Ethical and effective leadership throughout the organization guides the accomplishment of the mission and supports institutional effectiveness and improvement (Standard IV).

A college-wide dialogue that integrates the elements of the Standards provides the complete view of the institution that is needed to verify integrity and to promote quality and improvement.

Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) Western Association of Schools and Colleges accjc1@pacbell.net

Adopted, June 2002

Download the full Accreditation Standards document.

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ACCJC Standards Glossary

Assessment— Methods that an institution employs to gather evidence and evaluate quality.

Collegial— Participative and mutually respectful

Dialogue— Self-reflective exchanges engaged in by the college community, characterized by a free exchange of ideas without the purpose of defending or deciding on a course of action.

Evidence of Institution and Program Performance— Quantitative and qualitative data which an institution as a whole uses to determine the extent to which it attains the performance goals it establishes for itself.

Information Competency— Capability to access, evaluate, and use information in fulfillment of coursework and independent study.

Ongoing— Addressed regularly as part of the business of the college rather than in response to periodic external requirements.

Qualitative Data— Data relating to, or involving quality or kind, which cannot be represented numerically, such as portfolios of work, narrative description and evaluation of a performance, learner description and analysis of a learning experience.

Quantitative Data— Data which can be represented numerically

Student Learning Outcomes— Knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes that a student has attained at the end (or as a result) of his or her engagement in a particular set of collegiate experiences.

Total Cost of Ownership— In addition to the initial cost of a purchase, all long-term and indirect costs resulting from that purchase.