WASC Committee
October 24, 2013
Meeting Notes
11:00 – 12:00 p.m.
Haak Ctr Boardroom 4115
Members Present: Shirley Armbruster, Bryan Berrett, Carolyn Coon, Michelle DenBeste, Jose Diaz, Xuanning Fu,
Robert Harper, Gillisann Harootunian, Asao Inoue, Andrew Lawson, Maxine McDonald, Pranav Menon, Scott Moore,
Arun Nambiar, Dennis Nef, Tamyra Pierce, Chuck Radke, Rebecca Raya-Fernandez, Angel Sanchez, David Schecter,
Dave Tyckoson, Terence Wan, Lynnette Zelezny and Laura Alcantar.
Members Absent: Thomas Boeh, Michael Caldwell, Daniel Griffin, Jane Magee, James Marshall, Philip Neufeld, Paul
Oliaro, Melanie Ram, Rudy Sanchez, Fariborz Tehrani and Sandra Witte.
Called to order: 12:01 pm
I.
II.
Announcements – L. Zelezny
a. 1 Year Timing - Executive committee met and made a recommendation to the President and Provost for
our accreditation timeline. President recommended having a year between the review and the visit. Fall
2014 will be the Off Site Review and Fall 2015 will be the campus review visit.
b. ARC Proposal Submitted (December Notification)
c. Welcome Student Representative – Prenov - International student in his first year here at Fresno State.
d. Newsletter was sent to the academic affairs listserv – The newsletter has been out to the listserv and it has
been posted to the website. The committee complemented T. Pierce for her excellent work in putting
together the newsletter. The newsletter was very well received and L. Zelezny received emails regarding
WASC.
Review September 19, 2013 meeting notes
There were minor edits. L. Alcantar will update and post to the website.
The committee took time to introduce themselves to our new ASI student representative.
III.
Self-Study Essay Outlines/Timelines – A. Lawson
a. Introduction: Institutional Context; Response to Previous Commission Actions – L. Zelezny and A.
Lawson
Chair A. Lawson provided a timeline at this time and asked committee to provide any feedback.
b. Compliance with WASC Standards and Federal Regulations: Self-Review under the Standards;
Compliance Checklist – D. Nef, S. Moore and M. Caldwell (G. Harootunian)
The WASC standards were reviewed in July and the committee is making sure that we are compliant.
This group will have to write about what we learned about the standards. This group will need to bring it
back to the WASC committee to decide what has been learned by the campus about the standards. We
will start at this committee and then distribute to the campus for feedback. We will use the newsletter as a
venue to reach out to the campus as well as presentations to PLT and other groups.
c. Degree Programs: Meaning, Quality, and Integrity of Degrees – D. Schecter, A. Lawson, ASI Student,
Michelle DenBeste, S. Moore and D. Nef, J. Diaz, J. Marshall and R. Raya-Fernandez)
This committee will attend a conference and have an outline and timeline. The plan is to convene as a
group after the conference and provide the draft section.
d. Educational Quality: Student Learning, Core Competencies, and Standards of Performance at Graduation
– X. Fu (R. Hall, R. Harper, A. Inoue, C. Radke, M. Ram, F. Tehrani, D. Tyckoson, P. Neufeld, T. Pierce
and J. Magee)
X. Fu completed the timeline and has received suggestions. X. Fu is updating the second draft to include
those recommendations. X. Fu brought up the point that we need a structure as we put together our
documents (i.e. font, margins, etc.) Also, L. Zelezny mentioned that there is a possibility to have an
internal/external editor review.
e. Student Success: Student Learning, Retention, and Graduation – P. Oliaro, M. McDonald, A. Sanchez,
ASI Student and C. Radke
We have the Student Success rubrics and have an internal deadline of November 14th to have this section
completed.
f. Quality Assurance and Improvement: Program Review; Assessment; Use of Data and Evidence – A.
Sanchez and S. Witte (D. Griffin and Lisa Kao)
This group has a draft and feels that they are on track. This group will provide their draft to the committee
next time.
g. Sustainability: Financial Viability; Preparing for the Changing Higher Education Environment – D. Nef
and C. Matson (R. Sanchez, B. Berrett and C. Coon, G. Harootunian)
This group has a draft started and will provide this information to the committee and to the campus for
feedback.
h. Conclusion: Reflection and Plans for Improvement – A. Lawson, L. Zelezny, M. Caldwell and T. Pierce
IV.
V.
VI.
Subcommittee Reports
1. Communication/Web
Group is moving forward to locate the student that created the ice cream video. T. Pierce will be meeting
with student to create the video. The newsletter is out and will continue to go out to the listserv and the
website. Student suggested putting together an FAQ or written communication in the student voice.
2. Core Competency
At the last senate meeting, Sharon Brown-Welty provided a program review process that includes the five
core competencies (quantitative analysis, critical thinking, information literacy, written communication
and oral communication). WASC will require us to provide evidence on how we are measuring those
competencies.
3. Meaning, Quality & Integrity of the Degree
Nothing to report at this moment
Workshop Updates:
a. The Meaning, Quality, and Integrity of Degrees Workshop
November 14, 2013, southern California
b. Assessment 101: The Assessment Cycle, Clear and Simple
January 29, 2014, southern California
c. Retreat on Student Success, January 30-31, 2014, southern California
d. 2014 WASC Academic Resource Conference – Call for proposals due October 15th
April 23-25, 2014, Los Angeles, CA
Next Meeting: Thurs, November 21st 11:00 – 12:00 p.m., Haak Center Boardroom 4115
Meeting adjourned: 12:02 p.m.