Officials follow up on accreditation report from two years ago

Last week, officials from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities visited Portland State to follow up on recommendations the body made during its 2005 accreditation process.

At that time, the Commission cited four areas in the university that require significant improvement: consistency and clarity within the school’s management, adequate testing to determine if students have achieved educational objectives, the containment of hazardous waste generated on campus, and how research is funded.

Shawn Smallman, the vice provost for instruction and dean of undergraduate studies of Academic Affairs, hosted the visit, which he said focused primarily on testing and assessment.

“The issue of assessment is a big one right now, not only at PSU,” Smallman said, adding that many other colleges and universities are being asked to make improvements in this area as part of the accreditation process.

The university needs to improve how it measures students’ success at the end of their time at PSU, Smallman said.

The 2005 report states that “institutional progress on educational assessment is mixed and inconsistent, with some departments farther along than others.”

The accreditation process evaluates nine standards, including institutional mission and goals, planning and effectiveness, governance and administration and institutional integrity, among others. Every school at the university, from the school of Fine and Performing Arts to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, was evaluated, and commendations and recommendations for improvements were made.

Roy Koch, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, said that measuring students’ progress is an important part of achieving the university’s larger goals of retention and completion.

“This is a complicated process and something that we’re learning how to do,” Koch said.

Smallman said that if the visit went well, the accreditors will not visit PSU again until 2015.

“Hopefully they will say, ‘we’re really impressed and you’re doing a great job,’ and we’ll see them again in 2015,” Smallman said.