8. Institutional Self-Evaluation Using Commission Standards.

The primary portion of a self study report reviews institutional performance using the accreditation standards. Each standard is addressed in turn, using the following three elements:

Descriptive summary. This narrative should spring from institutional dialogue and should be focused on evidence the college has amassed in support of assertions about what it does to meet Commission standards. The underlying question regards what the institution has learned/knows about what it does.

Self evaluation. The institution is expected to analyze and systematically evaluate what it has learned/knows about itself in terms of the standards. The basic questions have to do with whether or not and to what degree institutional evidence demonstrates that the institution meets the standards and how the institution has reached this conclusion. This analysis should result in actionable conclusions about institutional effectiveness and capacity, informing decisions for what needs to be done to improve.

Planning Agenda. As an institution describes and evaluates its programs and services with reference to each standard, it identifies areas in need of change. This activity yields a planning agenda --- a vehicle for institutional improvement. For each subsection of the standard, the institutions should forecast progress it plans to make. The planning agenda should include the following elements:

• Statements of the plans, activities, and processes (as opposed to tasks) the institution expects to implement as a statement of what the institution thinks it will do.
• Discussion of the ways the areas identified in need of improvement will be or have been incorporated into the ongoing, systematic evaluation and planning processes of the institution.
• Discussion of how the outcomes of these plans, activities and processes are expected to improve student learning and foster institutional improvement in general.

Note: The standards reference specific Commission policies. The self study report should address how the college is in compliance with these policies. A list of these policies will be found in Appendix D. Text of the policies can be found in the ACCJC’s Handbook of Accreditation and Policy Manual, Revised Summer 2002.

Appendix D: POLICIES REFERENCED IN THE STANDARDS

• Policy on Distance Learning, Including Electronically-Mediated Learning
• Principles of Good Practice in Overseas International Education Programs for
• Non-U.S. Nationals
• Policy Statement on Considerations when Closing a Postsecondary Educational Institution
• Joint Policy Statement on Transfer and Award of Academic Credit
• Contractual Relationships with Non-Regionally Accredited Organizations
• The Governing Board
• Policy and Procedures for the Evaluation of Institutions in Multi-College/Multi-Unit Districts or Systems