Behind the Acronym: NWCCU

Who they are

The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) was founded in 1952 to accredit higher education institutions in the Pacific Northwest region. According to the NWCCU, institutions and students cannot get federal funding for teaching, research or financial aid without the commission’s accreditation.

The NWCCU is a private, nonprofit corporation overseeing college-level institutions in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

According to Dr. Sandra E. Elman, NWCCU president, the institutions that the NWCCU accredits—besides such public universities as Portland State—include private universities, community colleges, research and religion-affiliated universities and tribal colleges, many of which are located on reservations.

The U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation recognize the NWCCU and the commission oversees regional accreditation for 163 institutions in the Northwest. The organization consists of up to 26 commissioners who represent the public and the diversity of higher education institutions.

Shawn Smallman, vice provost for instruction and dean of undergraduate students, is Portland State’s institutional liaison officer. Smallman serves on evaluation committees, making site visits to other institutions and attending regional NWCCU meetings, according to Robert Halstead, assistant to the vice provost for instruction.

The NWCCU mission statement is “to assure educational quality, enhance institutional effectiveness…through analytical institutional self-assessment and critical peer review.”

Halstead explained that events were held last year in four cities, including Portland, where the members of the organization voted on new changes to the accreditation cycle.

Halstead expects results to be posted by Jan. 14, 2010.

“The commission will reaffirm the membership’s vote on the new standards and the new cycle at its January 2010 meeting,” Elman said.

The organization is in the last stages of approving a new set of standards and a new cycle for evaluation reviews that will change in 2011, according to Elman.

Elman said the cycle for evaluation reviews will change from a 10-year cycle to a seven-year cycle.

She noted that the changes do not imply a change in the mission, only part of the process.

Elman sees the process as an opportunity to address standards that are out of compliance.

“We have had to terminate the accreditation of an institution but it is rare,” Elman said.

According to Elman, an institution sometimes closes or withdraws its own accreditation.

Their impact at Portland State

Portland State became accredited by the NWCCU in 1955 with bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees. The school is currently accredited through regular reviews of its various programs, and currently the school is working to fulfill its next interim report.

The change in evaluation cycles will be a complicated transition, according to Halstead.

“Everything will be staggered so there is an equal amount of reports from the 10-year cycle and also the seven-year cycle,” Halstead said.

According to Halstead, there are currently 10 standards that a university has to excel in. Every 10 years, institutions address 10 questions about these standards. Interim reports are due periodically and Portland State sent in a 10-year report in 2005, with an interim report due in the fall of 2010, Halstead said.

The first key is quality of education programs and faculty, according to Elman.

“The most important thing is to protect the public interest and to honor the autonomy of our colleges and universities,” Elman said.

What the NWCCU does not do is to compare institutions or use a ranking or number system.

“We evaluate an institution on its own merit in terms of the standards for accreditation,” Elman said.

According to Elman, the evaluation is all about self-examination, because the institution provides the report on how well it is meeting standards and the evaluation committee validates what it is that the institution has said in its report, Elman said.

“It is not whether or not we like the colors of the walls,” Elman said. She also said standards are what drive the process, such as faculty, financial stability, adequacy of library, physical facility, laboratories, governance and administration.

NWCCU accreditation categories
– Institutional mission, goals, planning and effectiveness
– Educational program effectiveness
– Students
– Faculty
– Library
– Grievance and administration
– Finance
– Physical facilities
– Institutional integrity