Accreditation is interested in the things that higher education institutions- coming together in regional associations- have agreed demonstrate high quality education. Regional accreditation is something we do once every ten years. Currently, WSU is beginning the self-study process. The self-study process requires each department or program to go through its own mini self-study. This process will culminate in an evaluation team visit in April of 1999.
Accountability is for another audience- the Legislature- and in some ways the larger public. The Legislature is interested in performance measures related to quality and efficiency.
Assessment is feedback that tells us what is working well and what needs improvement. Our challenge now is to make sure all of our major assessment initiatives are contributing information that we can use- and then to organize and focus that information in ways that guide us to make changes in what we do. Through it all, assessment is OUR process that we design and use for IMPROVEMENT.
Accreditation
This site was
designed by Jennafer Friedrichsen, 1997
Questions and comments may be directed to: aaa@wsu.edu
Revised April 1, 1998. ©Copyright 1997 Washington State
University