Northwest Commission on College and University (NWCCU) Annual Update for WSQA Academic Year Due October 30, 2018

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1 College Name: Wenatchee Valley College Northwest Commission on College and University (NWCCU) Annual Update for WSQA Academic Year Due October 30, 2018 Contact Person: R. Ty Jones, Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness & Planning Contact Phone: Contact Timeline of recent NWCCU evaluations and actions: WVC received a Mid-Cycle Evaluation in October This replaced the Year Three evaluation that was originally scheduled for fall Mid- Cycle 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. NWCCU accepted the Ad-Hoc report, noting that WVC has made substantial progress on the 2010 Year Seven recommendations. It is to be noted that WVC has been approved by NWCCU to offer two applied baccalaureate (BAS) programs in the fall quarter of The college submitted an Ad-Hoc report to the commission on March 1, 2018, updating NWCCU on progress made with the applied baccalaureate programs. Also, as part of the Ad Hoc Report, WVC addressed the recommendations from the 2010 Year Seven Evaluation. There was a subsequent ad hoc evaluation made to the report in April of The Ad Hoc Report and subsequent evaluation visit had the following three outcomes: WVC was granted full approval for the two existing baccalaureate programs. WVC was approved as a baccalaureate granting institution. WVC had addressed all three recommendations from the 2010 Year Seven Evaluation and no further action was required on the recommendations. 1

2 As WVC has fully addressed the recommendations from NWCCU, it has looked toward the conclusion of its current accreditation cycle. WVC will be submitting a new Year Seven Mission Fulfillment and Self-Evaluation Report to NWCCU by March 1, A team of evaluators from the commission will then visit the college on April 8-10, The college is actively preparing for this report and evaluation. 2

3 Accreditation recommendations to the College and year of recommendation 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). Actions taken by the college to address recommendations Degree-level learning outcomes were revised under the leadership of a faculty committee in 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. 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. In 2015, WVC acquired software to interface with the college LMS system, in order to simplify collecting assessment data. The college did a test pilot in Fall 2016 and a first full collection in Spring In 2018, the college moved the SLO assessment process to the college s LMS system (Canvas). This is being done to foster greater and more meaningful participation. Improvement results 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. Also, the college has begun an integrated course assessment model that associates course assessments to college wide SLOs. The college s Assessment Committee will be working to do further analysis on the results collected to identify patterns of student success and best practices for instruction. A dashboard, summarizing SLO data collection, has been created to support evaluation f SLO assessment results and to recommend practices in improving levels of mastery for the college s SLOs. 3

4 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 in preparation for its second Year One report in fall Since , 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 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. 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. In 2018, a number of faculty and student surveys were conducted in order to offer direction on areas where the college can offer better support to faculty and students. The college s Area Plan and budgeting process was modified to align more closely with program outcomes. Also, these changes were made so that resources could be more directly targeted to help the college address its mission and core themes at the program and service level. Seven 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 has been fully implemented in Fall New planning systems in use that facilitate outcomes reporting and access to information for planning and resource allocation decisions. These are being tied to the college s mission, core themes and strategic plan. New Area Plan process was created to allow programs and services to provide feedback on their gains, resource gaps and goals. These data will be used by administration to direct resources to support programs and services. Also the new Area Plans allow for better reporting of program outcomes. 4

5 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. 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 Alpha testing of a college wide research portal to allow wider assessment of student outcomes Implementation of a wider reaching faculty advising program. Development of general student guided pathways to help speed and direct student onboarding, advising and career/degree planning. Creation of dashboard to allow the college, programs and services to evaluate impact on student access, learning and achievement. Core Theme Councils are using a common planning and communication tool to improve coordination of improvement assessment, planning and improvement projects. A research portal for faculty and staff has been created to allow staff and faculty to track student progression and achievement over time. Specialized online course development instruction has been created in the college s LMS system. 5