Northwest Commission on College and Universities (NWCCU)
Annual Update for WSQA
Academic Year 2014, 2015
Due November 6, 2015
College Name: Wenatchee Valley College
Contact Person: Dr. Susan Murray, Executive Director, Institutional Effectiveness
Contact Phone: 509/682-6435
Contact email: smurray@wvc.edu
Timeline of recent NWCCU evaluations and actions:
WVC received a Mid-Cycle Evaluation in October 2014. This replaced the Year Three evaluation that was originally scheduled for fall 2013. MidCycle Evaluations do not result in formal recommendations. WVC’s report was accepted by the Commission on Colleges in February 2015; at that
time, the college was asked to submit an Ad Hoc report in October 2015, to address three recommendations from the college’s fall 2010 Year
Seven visit that had not yet been reported on. Progress on these recommendations is noted below.
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Accreditation recommendations to the
College and year of recommendation
Actions taken by the college to address
recommendations
Improvement results
Recommendation 1 (2010)
In the context of Core Themes, the
committee recommends that the
College focus on documenting, through
an effective, regular, and comprehensive
system of assessment of student
achievement, that students who
complete its educational courses,
programs, and degrees, wherever
offered and however delivered, achieve
identified course, program, and degree
learning outcomes (Standard 4.A.3).
Degree-level learning outcomes were revised
under the leadership of a faculty committee in
2014. Four new college-wide Student Learning
Outcomes were adopted, and the Assessment
Committee is leading development of an
assessment model. Samples of student work
from a variety of disciplines related to an SLO
are collected and assessed using a rubric.
Revised degree-level student learning outcomes;
defined process for SLO assessment; updated
course outlines with course learning objectives
linked to SLOs; additional support for curriculum
review to ensure currency and completeness;
updated assessment plan with defined cycles for
course, program, and degree-level outcomes.
Course outlines have been updated to reflect
the new SLOs and tie course objectives to
degree-level outcomes. A new curriculum
coordinator position was created to support
faculty and manage documentation.
Course, program, and degree-level assessment
processes and timelines are documented in a
college assessment plan.
Recommendation 2 (2010)
The committee recommends that the
institution evaluates holistically the
alignment, correlation, and integration
of planning, resources, capacity,
practices, and assessment with respect
to achievement of the goals or intended
outcomes of its programs or services,
wherever offered and however delivered
(Standard 4.A.5).
Following completion of the pilot of the revised
accreditation process in fall 2010, WVC
reviewed and revised its core themes during
2010-11 in preparation for its second Year One
report in fall 2011. Since 2011-12, annual
reports on attainment of the college’s four core
themes have been published. These reports are
based on indicators of achievement for each
core theme; quantitative indicators have
established benchmarks that define acceptable
thresholds of performance. These reports are
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Five complete cycles of core theme reporting
have resulted in increased understanding of how
all programs and services contribute to core
theme attainment.
Revisions to the negotiated agreement that
would support faculty involvement in core
theme councils are under discussion.
New planning systems in use that facilitate
outcomes reporting and access to information
reviewed annually by the Board of Trustees and
President’s Cabinet; the college and faculty
leadership are working on a plan to establish
councils for planning and evaluation of
outcomes for each core theme.
for planning and resource allocation decisions.
Resources from WVC’s 2013 Title III
Strengthening Institutions grant have been
used to upgrade institutional planning systems
to an interactive platform that supports
outcomes reporting for programs and services
and links these efforts to core themes and
strategic priorities.
Recommendation 3 (2010)
The committee recommends that the
College develop a protocol to ensure the
results of core theme assessments and
results of assessments of programs and
services are: a) based on meaningful
institutionally identified indicators of
achievement; b) used for improvement
by informing planning, decision making,
and allocation of resources and capacity;
and c) made available to appropriate
constituencies in a timely manner.
Moreover, evaluators recommend the
College use results of student learning to
inform the academic and learningsupport planning and practices that lead
to the enhancement of student learning
achievements (Standard 4.B.1 and
4.B.2).
Meaningful institutionally identified indicators
of achievement are in place for mission
fulfillment and core themes and have been
applied and refined through multiple cycles of
planning and assessment. Course completion,
retention, and graduation are areas of focus.
The assessment plan documents how student
learning is evaluated at the course, program,
and degree levels.
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Examples of improvement results include:
•
curriculum redesign in developmental math
•
transition planning for students entering
with below college-level skills
•
“Just In Time” alerts for students at risk for
academic failure
•
Completion coach position focused on
student retention
•
Expanded support for development of
instructional content in electronic media
•
Enhanced advising portal and new tools for
data on student progress and success