PolyCentric University News Center

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Steering Committee has reviewed the results of the survey from Fall Conference. More than 900 surveys were received, representing the views of faculty, staff and administrators from each division, college and school. A Web page will soon be up and running with the results of the surveys available to the university community.

The WASC Steering Committee is set to begin the next round of the process. We ask that each of you work with your chairs and/or directors to arrange for them to have departmental faculty and staff discussions revolving around the three bullet points below:

• What does it mean for Cal Poly Pomona to be a top-notch university? What do we need to do to get there?
• How do we prepare students to succeed? What can we do better? What do we need to do to get there?
• How does our practical hands-on approach to learning support questions 1 and 2? How can this approach be more efficient? What do we need to do to get there?

To aid discussions, we ask that you view the video distributed last month. Copies are available by contacting Rachel Duenas at (909) 869-4382. Approximately 20 minutes of discussion time should follow the viewing of the video; and three to five ideas for each bullet point should be identified. We ask that you submit one summary sheet electronically to Margaret Kasimatis, executive director of Institutional Research, Assessment & Planning by Nov. 4.

The purpose of the discussions, in conjunction with the survey results, is to help the WASC Steering Committee identify potential themes that will serve as the basis for the campus proposal to be submitted by May 6, 2006. Those interested in finding out more about the WASC accreditation process and/or how the process differs from previous cycles, visit the WASC Web site at www.wascsenior.org/wasc/.

On behalf of the WASC Steering Committee, thank you for your help.

Tomas D. Morales

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs