Riverside, Calif., March, 2002 -- In a "Commission Action Letter" addressed to President Geraty, dated March 1, 2002, and received this afternoon (March 4), Ralph A. Wolff, Executive Director of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), informed La Sierra University that its accreditation had been reaffirmed for a full 7-year cycle without interim report or visit. The Commission stated that "reaffirmation of accreditation indicates that the Commission has found an institution has met or exceeded the expectations of the Standards. It is granted for up to ten years and may be accompanied by the request for interim reports and visits [which was NOT LSU's case]. When accreditation is reaffirmed, institutions are most often placed on a seven- or a ten-year cycle." Such a reaffirmation may be accompanied by a formal Notice of Concern, which, again, was NOT LSU's case.

Wolff said, the visiting team "wrote an exceptionally comprehensive report and provided a significant number of suggestions and recommendations intended to be helpful to the University. As such, they are not all to be taken as Commission mandates. In addition to the team's [five] major recommendations contained on pages 78-80 of the team's report, the Commission wishes to highlight three concerns: setting clear priorities, planning and sustaining financial development, and Educational Effectiveness at the University." In other words, these three concerns are a more comprehensive way of incorporating the team's five major recommendations (reevaluating our Strategic Plan; considering alternative approaches in our budgeting efforts, capital construction, and development initiatives; addressing issues related to our SDA identity; reevaluating and systematically installing assessment plans for all academic and support programs; and reviewing our technology and computing needs in both academic and administrative areas).

Among the commendations in the four page letter, the Commission noted that LSU "has taken significant steps since the last visit and has used the self-study process to examine thoughtfully its progress over the past decade. . . . The Commission noted the team's recognition of the high quality of the University's advising system and commended the University for it exemplary approach to advising. This is a clear indication of the University's commitment to supporting student learning within the La Sierra educational environment."

Commenting on LSU's attempt to address Educational Effectiveness as a focus of the self study, the Commission had this to say, in part, about the three thematic emphases chosen:

1. "The University is to be commended for the high quality and thoroughness of the review of its graduate programs."

2. "The team found that the University had taken commendable strides in the development of its rhetorical learning program (critical thinking and written and oral communication)."

3. "The Commission commended the University for its strong commitment to service-learning as evidenced by its inclusion as a required element of the curriculum; strong faculty initiative in developing and modifying courses to accommodate service learning; strong community support for the program; and by the testimony provided by community agencies about the value added by service-learning students to their program operations."

The Commission concluded, "while there are many positive elements within the areas of emphases and the overall academic program, the University lacks a comprehensive approach to Educational Effectiveness. The University will need to demonstrate that it is able to implement and maintain an evidence-based, systematic process of quality assurance which includes periodic program reviews, collecting and analyzing student learning results, and, where appropriate, student work, and the disaggregation of data to determine that the University's educational goals are being achieved consistently for all student groups. The University will also need to show that it is incorporating the results of its quality assurance system into planning and decision making." [Drs. Simmons and Geraty note that this sounds like a mandate for LSU's new Office of Institutional Effectiveness recently voted by the trustees and headed up by Dr. Nathan Brandstater.]

The next scheduled comprehensive review of the institution will occur in the newly required two-stage review process under the "2001 Handbook of Accreditation" which involves significant new Standards and substantially different expectations for Institutional Presentations. The "Preparatory Review" based on our own Proposal (due May 1, 2006) will take place in the fall of 2008 and the "Educational Effectiveness Review" in the fall of 2009.

President Geraty concludes, "LSU owes a debt of gratitude to all its faculty, staff, and trustees who pulled together to produce this positive outcome, but we want to recognize that the foundation for success was laid by Adeny Schmidt and Warren Trenchard, followed up in a comprehensive and thorough way by Ella Simmons with the assistance of many, notably Ed Boyatt, Prudence Pollard, Annemarie Hamlin, Jeff Kaatz, Elissa Kido, and Jennifer Tyner, to name only the most obvious. Finally, 'to God be the glory; great things He hath done!'"

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