Accreditation 411: Review the Basics for our Institutional Accreditation Site Visit

By 
Kim Greenwood and Lisa Carstens

As part of our accreditation cycle, a Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities evaluation team will be on campus Oct. 4 to 6, evaluating how Pacific delivers on its university mission.

What is Pacific’s mission? “A diverse and sustainable community dedicated to discovery and excellence in teaching, scholarship and practice, Pacific University inspires students to think, care, create, and pursue justice in our world.”

Evaluators may ask faculty and staff, what are examples from your area and experience of how Pacific accomplishes that mission? Think about some of the ways your work contributes.

Evaluators may ask, how do you know that your contributions are effective?What’s a recent example of your having used data or observed impact as a basis for changing your curriculum or services? 

Evaluators may ask students, does Pacific’s mission statement describe your experience of Pacific? Do you feel supported? Do you see Pacific as an institution committed to continuous improvement?

We hope these prompts may be helpful as you consider attending one of the open forums available for students, staff, and faculty during the site visit.

High-level supervisors with personnel evaluation and budget setting powers should not attend. Any student can attend the student forum, although employees who are students are advised to refrain from attending if they hold positions that could risk compromising the comfort of the non-employee student population to participate openly. To protect the confidentiality of participants, no photos or recording of forums is allowed.

Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023