Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) faculty, administrators, and staff have been working since January 2004 on the reaffirmation of accreditation through the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). This multi-stage application process came to an important milestone this week as the WASC Commission released their evaluation, which has reaffirmed the university’s accreditation until 2017.
WASC accreditation is a very important accomplishment for colleges and universities across the western region. For years, institutions have complied with a list of inputs (i.e., number of doctorates on the faculty, number of volumes in the library, financial ratios) during the evaluation process. The recent revision in WASC’s approach to accreditation has put the target where it belongs, most meaningfully: is the institution achieving what it claims as a learning community? The Commission’s findings regarding PLNU is a resounding yes.
“The reaffirmation of our WASC accreditation for 10 years is significant in marking the quality of Point Loma’s educational efforts to accomplish our mission,” said university President Bob Brower. “The outstanding work of Dr. Keith Bell as the Accreditation Liaison Officer, the WASC Steering Committee, and more than 100 faculty and staff who served on taskforces, accomplished the most comprehensive assessment of the University in our history.”
In the Commission’s action letter, WASC included two broad categories of response: commendations and actions.
The Commission commended PLNU for its response to the visiting team’s evaluation of work accomplished since the initial visit in October of 2006 in the prioritizing of recommendations to the president, and mentioned specifically improvements in Board of Trustees development, strategic planning, budgeting, and infrastructure development as ways to broaden PLNU’s scope of impact.
In addition, the major action of the Commission is the reaffirmation of PLNU’s accreditation, a 10-year confirmation that is a generous indication of confidence in the quality of what happens at Point Loma and belief in the university’s stated commitment to improvement in all levels of endeavor, as well as its acknowledgement of Point Loma as a leader in faith-based higher education.
PLNU’s determination to sustain this commitment will only be enhanced by the recent establishment of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, an endeavor that will coordinate review and self-reflection across both academic and co-curricular units. In connection with this improved comprehensive approach to continuous quality improvement and the newness of this process, Point Loma will report back to WASC by Nov. 1, 2012, providing evidence of clear and appropriate learning outcomes and assessment strategies and their use in decision making across the university.