A steering committee, consisting of Cal State San Bernardino administrators, faculty and staff, has begun meeting to lay the groundwork in preparation for the university’s 2021 reaccreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). The committee met on March 22 with Mark Goor, vice president, WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), who will work with the university in the reaccreditation process and lead the training on writing the self-study institutional report. Goor will serve as the university’s “critical friend” to help ensure the university’s institutional report complies with WASC standards and shows the university has reflected on its programs, processes and standards. Goor outlined the steps, processes and the nine report components of the university’s institutional report, which must be completed and submitted to the WSCUC by December 2020, 10 weeks before the offsite review in March 2021 in preparation for the accreditation onsite visit in the fall of 2021. One of the keys is for the steering committee to understand the process and to identify the report writing team and subcommittees to begin review the WSCUC standards and compliance with federal requirements, said Clare Weber, CSUSB deputy provost and vice provost for Academic Programs and the university’s accreditation liaison officer, who will serve as committee co-chair with the chair of the Academic Senate, Karen Kohlemainen.  Weber said though the reaccreditation process is in its initial stages, it is important for the university to start informing the CSUSB community and promoting its importance. “This is an opportunity for us to know our institutional strengths and weaknesses according to WSCUC accreditation standards and to improve accordingly by bringing the campus community together in this shared effort,” Weber said. The university last went through an accreditation reaffirmation process in the 2013-14 academic year, which led to its seven-year reaccreditation, until 2021. At that time, in 2015, the WSCUC in a letter to CSUSB President Tomás Morales commended the university for “a committed and caring community,” “outstanding contribution of faculty and staff,” “executive leadership,” “development of the Palm Desert Campus,” “strategic planning,” and “building a culture of evidence.” Earlier on Friday, Goor met President Morales and later with Provost Shari McMahan and Weber. Goor later met with the Institutional Research Team, Assessment and GE coordinator. Goor has more than 40 years of experience in education as a professor, dean of the College of Education at the University of La Verne and special assistant to the provost at the University of La Verne. As a professor, Goor published books and articles on special education, taught assessment at George Mason University and taught team facilitation in the doctoral program in Organizational Leadership at the University of La Verne. For 15 years, he has been active in accreditation activities, leading teams for NCATE reviews and participating on WSCUC visiting teams and interim report teams. Additionally, Goor is a graduate of the WSCUC Assessment Leadership Academy. Most recently, as ALO, Goor has led the University of La Verne in building a university-wide assessment system in collaboration with the WSCUC Community of Practice initiative. Goor has a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology from the University at Albany, a master’s degree in special education from the University of Denver, and a doctorate in special education leadership from the University of Virginia. Visit the CSUSB WASC accreditation website for more information.