The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) is one of America's six regional accreditation agencies. Its jurisdiction covers California, Hawaii, and the Pacific regions. Four-year institutions seek accreditation from WASC for Senior Colleges and Universities (WSCUC). In contrast, non-four-year institutions obtain theirs from two other commissions (one for junior colleges and the other for K-12 schools and non-degree-granting postsecondary institutions).
California State University, San Bernardino, completed its accreditation reaffirmation cycle in 2021. As a result, WSCUC issued its action letter to CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales on March 9, 2022. In it, the Commission reaffirmed accreditation for ten years. In addition, the WSCUC commission commended the university for:
- Making enormous and impressive strides directly addressing the identified requirements outlined in the last Commission Action Letter.
- DEI governance model is highly inclusive and reflects a genuine commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion as part of the emerging fabric of the institution.
- Student advisors across the university collaborate in powerful ways to consistently provide a full range of support that contributes to student success.
- The thoughtful and intentional way in which IT and IR teams envisioned, planned, and built systems and platforms in support of student success and in response to the global pandemic.
- Allocating resources for initiatives such as DEI, the Quarter to Semester transformation, and the development of a culture of assessment – that demonstrates the level of institutional commitment required for successful implementation of these overarching strategic goals.
- Creating a culture of continuous improvement by breaking down silos and working together across the university.
- Developing a meaningful and substantive student-centered focus across multiple departments and programs.
While the university celebrates its success in obtaining reaccreditation from WASC, we are aware that we need to do more to fully realize the meaning of a CSUSB degree https://bulletin.csusb.edu/about-university/. We are poised to move forward along a path of continuous improvement for our students and our community.
CSUSB Current WSCUC Reaccreditation Term
It is our pleasure to share with you the WSCUC Commission Action Letter and the Visiting Team's Report for our 2021 reaffirmation of accreditation review. CSUSB received a ten-year reaccreditation, with an Interim Report due in 2025. Our next Offsite Review and Accreditation Visit are scheduled for Spring and Fall 2031.
CSUSB Reaffirmation of Accreditation 2021
WSCUC Timeline
Why is WSCUC accreditation important for our campus?
Watch this quick video to find out!
Onsite Visit Schedule
WSCUC Dates
|
Fall 2020 |
Spring 2021 |
Summer 2021 |
Fall 2021 |
Spring 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSUSB Institutional Report Due: December 17, 2020 | Offsite Review: February 25, 2021 | Responses to the Lines of Inquiry from the Offsite Review Due: July 16, 2021 | Reaccreditation Campus Visit: September 22-24, 2021 | Commission Meeting panel date: February 25, 2022 |
Commission Reports and Letters
| 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
WSCUC Steering Committee Meeting Dates
Scheduled Dates:
|
Winter/Spring Quarter, 2019 |
Fall Quarter, 2019 |
Winter Quarter, 2020 |
Spring Quarter, 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday, March 4, 2019 | Friday, December 6, 2019 | Friday, March 6, 2020 | Friday, June 12, 2020 |
|
Fall Semester, 2020 |
Spring Semester, 2021 |
Spring Semester, 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, October 30, 2020 | Friday, March 5, 2021 | Friday, May 28, 2021 |
WSCUC Monthly Updates
|
2019 |
May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December |
|---|---|
|
2020 |
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December |
|
2021 |
WSCUC Operations Team
- Clare Weber, Deputy Provost and Vice Provost for Academic Programs; WSCUC Accreditation Liaison Officer
- Julie Lappin, Chief of Staff and Associate Vice President
- Muriel C. Lopez-Wagner, Chief Data Officer and Associate Vice President for Institutional Research & Analytics, Digital Transformation, and Compliance Initiatives
- Sunny Hyon, Professor; Associate Chair; Institutional Report writer
- Judy Sylva, Professor; Faculty Director of Assessment for Academic Affairs
- Janelle Gilbert, Associate Professor; Advising Coordinator; MSIO Recruitment Coordinator
- Jennifer Mersman, Assessment and Research Officer for Student Affairs
- Faika Lore, WSCUC, Program Review, and Assessment Logistics Coordinator
WSCUC Onsite Visit Operations Committee
- Clare Weber, Deputy Provost and Vice Provost for Academic Programs; WSCUC Accreditation Liaison Officer
- Julie Lappin, Chief of Staff and Associate Vice President
- Pamela Langford, Associate Vice President for Alumni, Government & Community Relations
- Muriel C. Lopez-Wagner, Chief Data Officer and Associate Vice President for Institutional Research & Analytics, Digital Transformation, and Compliance Initiatives
- Ginny Hattar, Director of Special Events & Guest Services
- Judy Sylva, Professor; Faculty Director of Assessment for Academic Affairs
- Sunny Hyon, Professor; Associate Chair; Institutional Report writer
- Janelle Gilbert, Associate Professor; Advising Coordinator; MSIO Recruitment Coordinator
- Faika Lore, WSCUC, Program Review, and Assessment Logistics Coordinator
WSCUC Steering Committee Members
- Clare Weber, Deputy Provost and Vice Provost for Academic Programs; WSCUC Accreditation Liaison Officer; Steering Committee co-chair
- Beth Steffel, Faculty Senate Chair; Steering Committee co-chair
- Daisy Ramos, ASI student representative
- Nathaly Ramos, ASI student representative
- Roman Salem, ASI student representative
- Sunny Hyon, faculty, Institutional Report writer
- Jo Anna Grant, CAL faculty representative
- Judy Sylva, Assessment faculty representative
- Thomas Long, SBS faculty representative
- Monideepa Becerra, CNS faculty representative
- Matthew Poole, CAL faculty representative
- Becky Sumbera, COE faculty representative
- Karen Escalante, COE faculty representative
- Kimberly Collins, JHBC faculty representative
- Janelle Gilbert, GE faculty representative
- Mihaela Popescu, CAL faculty representative
- Julie Lappin, Chief of Staff; Associate Vice President
- Shari McMahan, Provost; Vice President for Academic Affairs
- Paz Olivérez, Vice President for Student Affairs
- Samuel Sudhakar, Vice President for Information Technology Services
- Douglas Freer, Vice President for Administration and Finance
- Robert Nava, Vice President for University Advancement
- Cesar Caballero, Dean for the Pfau Library
- Rafik Mohammed, Dean for the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences (SBS)
- Sastry Pantula, Dean for the College of Natural Sciences (CNS)
- Rueyling Chuang, Dean for the College of Arts and Letters (CAL)
- Jake Zhu, Dean for the Palm Desert Campus (PDC)
- Chinaka DomNwachukwu, Dean for the College of Education (COE)
- Tatiana Karmanova, Associate Vice Provost; Dean for College of Extended and Global Education (CEGE)
- Shanthi Srinivas, Interim Dean for the Jack H. Brown College (JHBC) of Business and Public Administration
- Anna Ni, Associate Dean in Jack H. Brown College
- Muriel Lopez-Wagner, Chief Data Officer; Associate Vice President for Institutional Research & Analytics
- Lesley Davidson-Boyd, Interim Dean for Undergraduate Studies
- Dorota Huizinga, Associate Provost for Academic Research; Dean of Graduate Studies
- Cierra Lavarias, Compliance Specialist
- Rachel Beech, Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management
- Jackie Varela, Director for Student Engagement
- Monir Ahmed, Associate Vice President for Finance and Administrative Services
- Joe Gutierrez, Assistant Director for Strategic Communication
- Jeanne Durr, Interim Associate Vice President for Human Resources; Co-Chief Diversity Officer
- Seval Yildirim, Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs and Development; Co-Chief Diversity Officer
- Edwin Gomez, Riverside County Superintendent of Schools
What are the WSCUC Core Competencies?
All students graduating with a baccalaureate degree from a WSCUC accredited university are required to have achieved proficiency in the following five Core Competencies:
- Writing (W)
- Oral Communication (OC)
- Quantitative Reasoning (QR)
- Information Literacy (IL)
- Critical Thinking (CT)
These core competencies are outlined in WSCUC’s 2013 Handbook of Accreditation Revised and FAQs. Graduates are expected to achieve these competencies upon graduation within their General Education (GE) courses as well as demonstrate program-specific competency in each area.
Why is this important?
The WSCUC Core Competencies align Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) with General Education Learning Outcomes (GLOs) as well as with Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs).
The Commission is asking all universities to provide documentation on how each program conducts its assessment, practices, and outcomes.
In Component 4 of the handbook, WSCUC states that “the institutional review process calls upon institutions to describe how the curriculum addresses each of the five core competencies, explain their learning outcomes in relation to those core competencies, and demonstrate, through evidence of student performance, the extent to which those outcomes are achieved.”
Who does this apply to?
In Criterion for Review (CFR) 2.2a, WSCUC states that baccalaureate, or undergraduate, degree programs must “ensure the development of core competencies including, but not limited to, written and oral communication, quantitative reasoning, information literacy, and critical thinking.”
Although these Core Competencies focus solely on learning outcomes of undergraduate programs or majors, graduate programs are expected to have programs that are “clearly . . . differentiated from and more advanced than undergraduate programs in terms of . . . standards of performance and student learning outcomes” (CFR 2.2b).
How can we assess our programs and who can help?
To learn more about assessment, please visit our Assessment website which has helpful information regarding General Education (GE) Assessment, PLOs, ILOs, and more.
For help with program assessment, the Office of Assessment is always available to assist departments. Please contact the Faculty Director of Assessment for Academic Programs for any departmental assessment needs.