Subject: Update on CSULB's Reaccreditation Process
From: President Alexander <csulb-president@csulb.edu>
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:19:27 -0700
To: "All Faculty CSULB" all-faculty@csulb.edu
Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,
California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is in the second year of a four-year reaccreditation process conducted by the Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC). This comprehensive reaccreditation process is critical to the advancement of our university. Committed to actively engage faculty, staff, students, and administrators in this reaccreditation, CSULB has developed an infrastructure of key committees and work groups to facilitate and support shared leadership and responsibility across university divisions, programs, and groups. I would like to express my appreciation to our Steering Committee, Implementation Committee, Core Commitment Groups, and WASC Outreach Committee for their commitment to and leadership throughout this process. I would also like to thank our students, faculty, and staff for their ongoing engagement and contributions.
To facilitate university awareness, two-way communication, and broad participation, we have constructed a WASC webpage at http://www.csulb.edu/projects/wasc/. The webpage is designed to identify key committees and their responsibilities; to delineate our work plan, milestones, and timeline; to provide full access to the accreditation documents developed by our committees; and to promote the involvement of all campus constituents. I would like to encourage our students, faculty, and staff to visit this website frequently to follow our progress, review our findings, and select ways to contribute to our reaccreditation.
Throughout this academic year, representatives from all areas within the university participated in a comprehensive self-study to assess our capacity to address the three core commitments delineated in our institutional proposal: organizing for effectiveness, staffing for effectiveness, and assessing student success. Each Core Commitment Research Group established teams to examine specific research questions and report their findings. The Capacity and Preparatory Report resulting from these findings will be submitted to WASC in December 2008.
The next phase of the WASC process, the Educational Effectiveness Review, will begin in fall 2008. Dr. Praveen Soni, Academic Senate Chair, will soon distribute a request for participation in the research projects developed for the Educational Effectiveness Review. I would like to invite and encourage you to consider participating in and contributing to these projects. The active engagement of our campus community will not only ensure the success of this process but also serve to strengthen us as a university. On behalf of the WASC Committee, I would like to thank you for your collaborative efforts.
F. King Alexander
President
California State University, Long Beach
Subject: WASC Update
From: Academic Affairs <csulb-provost@csulb.edu>
Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 20:50:13 -0700
To: "All Faculty CSULB" <all-faculty@csulb.edu>
Dear Campus Community members,
A week after spring break, the President’s communication to you on the WASC Accreditation progress stated that the Academic Senate chair will be sending out a call for participation and engagement in the WASC effort. After working with the President, the WASC Implementation Committee, and the three Core Commitment Groups, I am pleased to be able to share this information with you.
WASC has two stages of review: Capacity and Preparatory Review and the Educational Effectiveness Review. The Capacity and Preparatory Review is almost complete, and the report will be submitted to WASC in December 2008. At this time, we are planning for the Educational Effectiveness Review (EER) and would encourage your engagement and participation in the various research projects required for this stage. WASC requires broad campus participation.
Attached, you will find three documents from each of the core commitment groups. These documents list the research questions that CSULB needs to answer for the EER, the proposed methodologies, and the contact information for participation. Please read through the research questions and assess your interest, skills, capabilities, and competencies in assisting with, or executing the research projects. Based upon the match of your skills and competencies to the
research projects, the core commitment leaders will make a determination regarding your participation and accordingly contact you. Also, based upon the amount of required work and deadlines, resources in the form of stipends, summer support, assigned time etc. will be available.
If you are interested in participating, please do the following:
If you have any questions or seek clarifications, please direct them to the contact persons listed for each Core Commitment Group.
Thanks and regards,
Praveen Soni
