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Ethics-related Policies and Procedures - Standard 2.C Related

ACCREDITATION HANDBOOK

1999 Edition

COMMISSION ON COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

8060 165^th Avenue NE, Suite 100

Redmond, WA  98052-3935

Phone:  425/376-0596   www.nwccu.org

Standard Two - Educational Program And Its Effectiveness

Requirements

Approval and Purpose

a.         The institution's distance delivery programs have a clearly defined purpose congruent with institutional mission and purposes.

b.         Each program has been approved through established institutional program approval mechanisms.

c.         Programs provide for timely and appropriate interaction between students and faculty, and among students.

d.         The institution's faculty assumes responsibility for and exercises oversight over distance education, ensuring both the rigor of programs and the quality of instruction.

e.         The institution ensures that the technology used is appropriate to the nature and objectives of the programs.

f.          The institution ensures the currency of materials, programs and courses.

g.         The institution's distance education policies are clear concerning ownership of materials, faculty compensation, copyright issues, and the utilization of revenue derived from the creation and production of software, telecourses or other media products.

8. The institution provides appropriate faculty support services specifically related to distance education.

i.          the institution provides appropriate training for faculty who teach in distance education programs.

j.          The institution ensures that students have access to and can effectively use appropriate library resources.

k.         The institution monitors whether students make appropriate use of learning resources.

l.          The institution provides laboratories, facilities, and equipment appropriate to the courses or programs.

m.        Training is provided for faculty who teach via electronic delivery.

n.         The institution has faculty support services specifically related to teaching via electronic delivery.

o.         The institution provides adequate access to the range of student services appropriate to support the programs, including admissions, financial aid, academic advising, delivery of course materials, and placement and counseling.

p.         The institution provides an adequate means for resolving student complaints.

q.         The institution provides to students advertising, recruiting and admissions information that adequately and accurately represents the programs, requirements, and services available.

r.          The institution ensures that students admitted possess the knowledge and equipment necessary to use the technology employed in the program, and provides aid to students who are experiencing difficulty using the required technology.

s.          The institution possesses the equipment and technical expertise required for distance education.

t.          The institution's long-range planning, budgeting, and policy development processes reflect the facilities, staffing, equipment and other resources essential to the viability and effectiveness of the distance education program.

u.         The institution offering the program demonstrates a commitment to ongoing support, both financial and technical, and to continuation of the program for a period sufficient to enable enrolled students to complete the degree or certificate.

v.         The institution assesses student capability to succeed in distance education programs and applies this information to admission and recruitment policies and decisions.

w.        The institution evaluates the educational effectiveness of its distance education programs (including assessments of student learning outcomes, student retention, and student satisfaction) to ensure comparability to campus-based programs.

x.         The institution ensures the integrity of student work and the credibility of the degrees and credits it awards.

Adopted 1996/Revised 1998

General Requirements and Undergraduate Program

Required:

1.         Instruments and procedures used to measure educational program effectiveness.

2.         Inventory of documents that demonstrate the appraisal of educational program outcomes. The documents are to be available on campus for examination by the evaluation committee. Examples may include:

• annual goals and assessment of success in their accomplishment;
• studies of alumni and former students;
• studies regarding effectiveness of programs and their graduates;
• test comparisons that reveal beginning and ending competencies;
• surveys of student satisfaction.

3.         Inventory of degree programs that have been added or deleted in the last five years.

4.         Number of degrees granted in each program for the last three years.

5.         Published statements or other written rationale for the general education program.

Required Exhibits:

2          Description of curriculum development bodies and advisory groups, with rules of procedure and recent minutes.

3.         Complete departmental or program self-studies prepared for part of this self-study.

4.         Evaluation forms and summary reports of student evaluations of faculty and courses.

5.         Self-study and evaluation committee reports from external reviews and the most recent professional accreditation visits and documentation of resulting actions.

6.         Criteria and procedures for admission and retention of students, maintenance of student records, and awarding of credit, including credit for prior experiential learning.

7.         Policies regarding transfer of credit, including articulation agreements with other institutions.

8.         Policies regarding remedial work.

9.         Description of the materials and forms used in the academic advisement process.

10.        Grade distribution studies.

11.               Policies governing public service.

Suggested:

1.         Compilation of entering freshman student ability measures.

2.         Samples of course examinations and other instruments used to assess student achievement or competency and, when possible, available work products determined to be of different levels of quality.

3.         Funds devoted to research, if applicable, for each of the past three years; principal sources of such funds.

Required:

1.       Organizational charts which show the relationship of continuing education to various academic units of the institution, including the internal organization of the continuing education unit.

2.       Summary listing of off-campus programs, directors, sites, and enrollments.

3.       Policy and procedures for institutional approval of off-campus and special programs and courses.

Required Exhibits:

1.         Catalogs, brochures, announcements, and class schedules for special programs.

2.         Policies regarding the award of credit based on prior experiential learning, including the distribution of credits, by term, for the past two years.

3.         Policies that address all elements of 2.A.10 regarding award of credit.

4.         List of all courses and programs taught by nontraditional instructional formats for the past three years, indicating the course, type and duration of instruction, number of credits, enrollment, and location.

5.         Budgetary information and financial arrangements relating to continuing education and special learning activities.

6.         Studies demonstrating comparability of outcomes for courses or programs offered under concentrated or accelerated time frames, or other nontraditional instructional formats.

7.         Policies regarding admission, transfer of prior earned credit, credit by examination (e.g. College Level Examination Program [CLEP]), credit for prior experiential learning, credit by evaluation and residency requirements as they apply to external degrees, degree-completion programs, or special degrees.

8.         Sample transcript with explanation of codes showing designations for credit for prior experiential learning and non-degree credit.

9.         Contractual agreements with other institutions or travel agencies.

10.        Criteria and procedures for admission of students and awarding of credit; procedures for maintenance of student records.

11.        Catalogs, brochures, and announcements for continuing education courses and programs, and special learning activities.

12.        Criteria and procedures for registration of students and awarding of units; procedures for keeping student records.

13.        Procedures for involving appropriate institutional personnel in program approval and development.