WASC Educational Effectiveness Review Report

May 10, 2013

UCSB is now in the final stage of its reaccreditation review process for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). As you may recall, the campus submitted the Capacity and Preparatory Review in July 2011. The WASC peer review team, led by Dr. David Skorton, President of Cornell University, visited the campus in October, 2011. In March, 2012 the WASC Commission provided guidance about the areas on which UCSB should focus in anticipation of its Educational Effectiveness Review Report.

The WASC Commission recommended that the campus focus on the following areas: articulating and assessing program learning outcomes (PLOs) for all degree programs and the General Education program, and preparing graduate students for academic and non-academic careers.

For the past 18 months department faculty, staff and administrators have been working diligently to articulate PLOs and develop assessment plans. In addition, four departments involved in a pilot study have conducted assessments and are evaluating the results from that effort. Similarly, all graduate degree programs have specified their learning outcomes, and many have also completed assessment reports. To support this work, a Council on Assessment and an Assessment Grant Program were developed. An Assessment Research Group has also been established within the Office of Budget and Planning. Future program reviews will incorporate an evaluation of PLOs and related assessment data.

The Steering Committee of faculty, administrators and senior staff are drafting the final campus reaccreditation report, called the Educational Effectiveness Review Report. The report addresses the activities described above, and other areas required by WASC. The draft report, including a table of contents and five essays that constitute the core of the report, is now available online for review and comment.

https://evc.ucsb.edu/wasc/steps/educational.effectiveness.review/

Final editing and review by the Steering Committee will be done in June 2013, and the report will be submitted to WASC in early July 2013. The peer review team will visit campus for a second time on October 8-10, 2013. In February, 2014, the WASC Commission will make a determination about reaccreditation and the timing of the next reaccreditation review for UCSB.

If you have any comments on the draft report, please submit them to EERComments@bap.ucsb.edu by May 31, 2013. Thank you for your interest in the reaccreditation process.