Accreditation
Assessing Educational Effectiveness establishes accountability for external reviewers such as outside accrediting agencies including WASC, WASC and Educational Effectiveness, NCATE, CCTC, and CAAHEP.
The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) is one of six regional associations in the United States that accredit public and private schools, colleges and universities. The purpose of WASC is to ensure that an institution has the capacity (infrastructure, decision-making processes and resources) and educational effectiveness (ability to deliver curriculum) to sustain itself. All documentation submitted to WASC can be found by selecting the links at the right. For more information about WASC, please visit www.wascsenior.org.
California Lutheran University Earns WASC Re-Accreditation
Commission gives CLU high marks for faculty involvement and diversity programs
Leanne Neilson, Associate Provost, Graduate and Adult Programs and Accreditation, informed the California Lutheran University community on July 18, 2007 that “we completed the re-accreditation process and that the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Accrediting Commission reaffirmed our accreditation.”
In the final report, received by CLU on July 17, the commission commended the university for its continuous progress and commitment to building a comprehensive system of quality assurance and for the seriousness with which the university community was engaged in the entire accreditation review process.
“The team further found that issues of diversity, quality of graduate programs and the assessment of student learning have been addressed in a meaningful and in-depth manner by CLU,” wrote Ralph A. Wolff, president and executive director of WASC. The commission also commended the university’s effort to improve faculty compensation and its creation of a Center for Equality and Justice. The visiting team’s report highlighted the Festival of Scholars program, where students present their scholarship to the CLU community, as “most impressive.” The commission’s praise confirms our conviction that we are providing our students with a high-quality education.
The WASC Accrediting Commission scheduled the next comprehensive visit for spring 2014. The University Community is able to access the Educational Effectiveness Report, the WASC Visiting Team Report, and the WASC Commission Reaccreditation Letter on the CLU Portal.
Associate Provost Neilson expressed thanks to faculty, staff, and administration for their involvement and commitment to this process!
California Lutheran University’s School of Education achieved NCATE accreditation in 2004. Degrees and Credentials from institutions with NCATE accreditation are recognized as having met national criteria for quality programs. Degrees and Credentials are more easily transported to other states.
The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) was founded in 1954 through the collaboration of five national organizations. NCATE is a is a non- profit, non-governmental alliance of 33 national professional education and public organizations representing millions of Americans who support quality teaching. Currently NCATE accredits 602 colleges of education with nearly 100 more seeking NCATE accreditation. NCATE accreditation is a mark of distinction, and provides recognition that the college of education has met national professional standards for the preparation of teachers and other educators. For more information about NCATE please visit www.ncate.org.
California Commission on Teacher Credentialing
The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) is an agency of the California State Government. The major purpose of CCTC is to serve as a state standards board for educator preparation for the public schools of California, the licensing and credentialing of professional educators in the State, the enforcement of professional practices of educators, and the discipline of credential holders in the State of California.
As of July 2008, California law requires all multiple and single subject teacher preparation programs to include a Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA ).
The Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Programs (CAAHEP) is a nationally recognized allied health education accreditation organization. In fact it is the largest specialized programmatic health care accreditor in the United States. CAAHEP currently accredits over 2000 programs at 1300 institutions. These programs represent 20 allied health professions (There are currently 20 professions participating in the CAAHEP accreditation system, but 4 of these professions do not yet have any accredited programs). In addition to CAAHEP, there are at least 12 additional health-related accrediting bodies ranging from medicine and nursing to pharmacy and clinical laboratory sciences. For more information, please visit www.caahep.org.