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Relevance Activity Possible Answers
Standard II.A.9
The institution awards course credit, degrees and certificates based on student attainment
of learning outcomes. Units of credit awarded are consistent with institutional policies
that reflect generally accepted norms or equivalencies in higher education. If the
institution offers courses based on clock hours, it follows Federal standards for clock-tocredit-hour conversions. (ER 10)
Evidence
The college provides the catalog indicating the courses & credit requirements needed to
earn various degrees.
Intent:
The intent of the first part of the standard is to ensure the institution can
demonstrate that its graduates have met established and recognized standards for
achievement.
The second intent addresses the relationship of units of credit and contact hours of
instruction.
Possible Answers:
1. Assessed results of samples of student work showing graduates have reached the level
faculty expect.
2. Curricular features such as a capstone course or required performances to demonstrate
learning from various courses.
3. Examples of common grading criteria/rubrics that faculty use in programs of study
where a degree is awarded.
Note: Expect the visiting team to select at random a number of course outlines of record
to calculate the units vs. contact time then to check the scheduled time for the course in
the schedule of classes.
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Verifiable Activity Possible Answers
Standard II.A.14
Graduates completing career-technical certificates and degrees demonstrate technical and
professional competencies that meet employment standards and other applicable
standards and preparation for external licensure and certification.
Evidence Provided:
1. The college requires all faculty members to assess student learning on at least one
course SLO. The summary results are stored on the faculty member’s college
computer.
2. Employers often express satisfaction with the match between their needs and the
abilities of recent hires from the institution.
Intent:
The intent of the standard is to ensure that CTE program graduates can
demonstrate competencies that employers expect and are prepared for external
licensing and certification exams.
Possible Answers:
The evidence presented could be strengthened in two ways.
1. Assessment data could be stored in a central, easily assessable place and some specific
numbers and percentages could be cited in support of any learning outcomes conclusion,
suggesting systematic attention to the question posed.
2. The particular methods used to collect employer information such as surveys or focus
group interviews could be described and could be made available to a visiting team for
inspection along with the results.
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Representative Activity Possible Answers
Standard II.A.16
The institution regularly evaluates and improves the quality and currency of all
instructional programs offered in the name of the institution, including collegiate, precollegiate, career-technical, and continuing and community education courses and
programs, regardless of delivery mode or location. The institution systematically strives
to improve programs and courses to enhance learning outcomes and achievement for
students.
Evidence Provided:
The college provides a detailed account of the recent re-accreditation of its Nursing
Program as an example of its efforts to improve programs and use SLO evidence.
Intent:
The intent of the standard is to ensure that the college regularly evaluates all
instructional programs and strives to improve student achievement and
performance on learning outcomes.
Possible Answers or Questions:
1. How many other programs completed similar external accreditations?
2. Offer some examples of other programs that have no external program accreditor.
3. Assume the team will want to draw a random sample of program reviews or other
documents that could support Standard II.A.16.
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Cumulative Activity Possible Answers
Standard III. A. 14
The institution plans for and provides all personnel with appropriate opportunities for
continued professional development, consistent with the institutional mission and based
on evolving pedagogy, technology, and learning needs. The institution systematically
evaluates professional development programs and uses the results of these evaluations as
the basis for improvement.
Evidence Provided:
In relation to this Standard, the college describes its Faculty Fellows Program together
with an annotated example of a particular chemistry professor’s project on using
classroom assessment techniques to improve her instruction.
Intent:
The intent of the standard is to ensure that the college regularly (1) provides
professional development to all segments of the workforce; (2) evaluates
opportunities; and (3) uses the results to improve professional development.
Possible Answers:
The use of a particular case is appropriate and compelling because it can demonstrate in
depth the kind of scholarship of teaching that individual faculty members are engaging in
and that the college is attempting to foster.
But the evidence would be strengthened if data were also presented on how many faculty
members have participated in such programs, the distribution of participation across
disciplines/departments.
A simple chart summarizing the numbers and kinds of development projects that faculty
have undertaken through this program (e.g., classroom research, course portfolios, etc.)
could also be effective.
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Actionable Activity Possible Answers
5.4 Requirements for Evidential Information
(ACCJC Manual for Self-Evaluation, August 2015)
All evidentiary information included in the Institutional Self Evaluation Report must be
discussed and cited within the various Accreditation Standards and sub-sections where
reference to the information is relevant. Furthermore, the information should be
supported by analysis in terms of its alignment with the institutional mission and how the
outcome of the data analysis will impact the future planning and development of the
institution.
Evidence Provided:
In presenting evidence of the support it provides for student learning, the college notes
that it has established explicit targets for first-year retention rates and for three-year
program completion rates, provides a table indicating the actual rates attained over the
past five years, and flags whether or not the established target was met.
Intent:
The intent of the Commission is to promote continuous quality improvement and
the federal government has required regional accreditors to monitor member
institutions to set their own standards for student achievement and monitor their
own progress.
Possible Answers:
Establishing targets is useful, but actionability would be greatly strengthened if additional
analysis were undertaken to break down these results to the level of individual disciplines
and by student demographic groups.
Further disaggregation of these data might reveal even more opportunities for action. For
example:
 Which kinds of students seem to be dropping out and when?
 Can these events be associated with any particular courses or other experiences?
 Are there populations or disciplines that appear to have exemplary rates, and what
might explain them?
 And how might any best practices so uncovered be used for further improvement?
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