Washington State Quality Awards Standards
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Washington State Quality Awards and Northwest Commission on College and University Accreditation
Background
The Washington State Legislature passed a law (RCW 43.17.390) requiring all state agencies, including colleges, to undergo ongoing independent assessments of organizational quality. Washington Association for Community and Technical Colleges (WACTC) representatives and the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges staff members requested that Governor Gregoire review Northwest Commission on College and University (NWCCU) accreditation standards and processes, required of all community and technical colleges, as a means of satisfying Washington State Quality Award (WSQA) standards. A review process comparing WSQA and NWCCU standards was initiated in 2008 and included an extensive crosswalk by colleges and an independent consultant review.
On November 10, 2008, Governor Gregoire issued a decision that Northwest Commission on College and University accreditation satisfies the Washington State Quality Award standards under RCW 43.17.390. The decision included four additional requirements for colleges to fully comply with WSQA standards.
Requirements Include:
- Colleges will post the most recent full accreditation report on their college website. Information will be updated per accreditation review cycle. College names below link to their NWCCU accreditation information web page.
- Colleges will post a brief list of NWCCU accreditation commendations and recommendations related to their most recent accreditation visit on their college website. Information will be updated per accreditation review cycle. College names below link to their NWCCU accreditation information web page.
- Colleges will complete an annual status report on accreditation progress and submit the status report to SBCTC by November 15 of each year. See link below for college annual reports.
- State Board for Community and Technical Colleges will post Student Achievement outcomes for each college by November 15 of each year. See link below for Student Achievement outcomes by college.
For more information about community and technical college WSQA requirements contact:
Michelle Andreas, Ed.D.
Associate Director, Education Services
SBCTC
mandreas@sbctc.edu
360-704-4338
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