| CSU Dominguez Hills Receives Visit From WASC Evaluation Team to Assess Educational Effectiveness
The Feb 13-15 Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) site visit and review of educational effectiveness at California State University, Dominguez Hills was pronounced “very successful” by CSUDH President Mildred García. The visit concluded an ongoing campus self-study which has been conducted since WASC’s Capacity Preparatory Review visit in 2006, focusing on four core issues: academic quality, campus change, diversity, and civic engagement.
“Dr. Dan Bernstine, the team’s chair, was highly complimentary and delivered many commendations to the campus,” the president said in a memo to faculty and staff. “He also touched on some important recommendations for the future that are closely aligned with some of the objectives that the university is already pursuing.”
According to García, Bernstine commended the university for having a strong leadership team and the structures and systems in place to continue efforts to sustain and improve educational effectiveness. The evaluation team recognized the faculty’s and administration’s commitment to the university and its mission of serving all students, from those needing remediation to graduate students. CSUDH was also commended for embracing diversity as a key issue and for providing a wide variety of multicultural programs.
Two key events during the WASC site visit served to showcase the Dominguez Hills campus to the visiting team and the campus community. The Friends of the University Library and President García hosted a celebration and display of published works and creative activity by Dominguez Hills faculty, staff and administrators at a reception in the
Loker Student Union Ballroom on Feb. 13. The newly created CSUDH Campus-wide Directory of Awards, Scholarly Works and Creative Activities was introduced that evening, highlighting the scholarly expertise and creative talent at CSU Dominguez Hills, with biographies, curriculum vitas, media coverage and links to achievements, including publications, sound and video clips, and photography.
 “The directory celebrates and documents our achievements, contributions and passions in many fields of endeavor,” says Naomi Moy, director of reference services, University Library, and co-director of the project. “This is on the Internet, so it’s available to anyone in the world to access. The directory reflects the wide-ranging areas of research and scholarly interests of our faculty, field work within our neighboring communities, and research and service overseas as well. It also displays our creative side and our contributions to the arts. As we add more faculty and staff, and more categories of information and features, our collective record will further show a vibrant faculty, staff and administration who is proud to reveal who we are and what we do, to the world.”
The annual Campus Self-Study Poster Session was held the next day in the Loker Student Union Ballroom. Poster and electronic presentations highlighting the campus community's work relating to each of the four core issues identified by the campus’ WASC self-study. The session included participation from nearly every department and was attended by members of the campus community. Dr. Caron Mellblom, director, Center for Learning and Academic Support Services (CLASS) and co-chair of the WASC Steering Committee, says that the poster sessions, which have been held since 2004, “helped us break down some of the silos [on campus]. They have become an annual event where members of the campus community can learn about each others’ work and goals, promoting communication and a shared understanding of each others’ objectives.”
In addition to the commendations, the WASC team made several recommendations that will be forwarded to the WASC Accrediting Commission. Among the recommendations were to proceed with the searches for a new provost/vice president for Academic Affairs and vice president for Enrollment Management; continue efforts towards improving enrollment and retention; seek to create a similar ethnic mix and balance in the faculty as seen in the student population and community; and continue comprehensive assessments of student learning outcomes and efforts to strengthen civic engagement on campus.
“The local WASC representatives have been using our campus to demonstrate the effectiveness of the changes they have made in regional accreditation processes,” says Mellblom. “With the acceptance of the last set of documents and visits from an external evaluation team, our campus has become a model of how to use the WASC self-study process for ongoing campus improvement. The external evaluation team affirmed that there are processes in place to support educational effectiveness and that the continuous improvement model at Dominguez Hills is sustainable.”
García thanked members of the WASC Self-Study Steering Committee and core issues subcommittees for their “tremendous efforts” and acknowledged Drs. Mellblom, Shirley Lal and Jaime Dote-Kwan for their leadership throughout the self-study process.
A draft of the follow-up report of the WASC team’s findings on the CSUDH Reaffirmation of Accreditation will be presented at a Town Hall meeting open to the entire campus on Tuesday, April 29, at 11:30 a.m. in the Loker Student Union, Ballroom C.
For more information on WASC accreditation processes at CSUDH, click here.
- Joanie Harmon
Photos above: CSUDH marketing students share their studies and experiences with President Mildred García (third from right) during the Annual Poster Session in the Loker Student Union. L-R: Kirti Celly, associate professor of marketing; Robin Jones, senior; marketing; Bryan Papp, senior, marketing; Corey Cohen, senior, management and marketing; and Natasa Christodoulidou, assistant professor of management.
The WASC Evaluation Team celebrates a successful visit with President Mildred García. L-R: Ronald K. Barrett, professor of psychology, Loyola Marymount University; Jan M. Nick, associate professor, Loma Linda University; Shirley Lal, associate professor of teacher education and associate for Student Learning Outcomes Assessment, CSUDH
Center for Teaching and Learning;
Marilee J. Bresciani, associate professor, San Diego State University; Emily L. Moore, provost, Dillard University; WASC Team Assistant Chair Gary A. Miller, provost and senior vice president, Biola University; and Caron Mellblom, director, Center for Learning and Academic Support Services (CLASS) and co-chair of the WASC Steering Committee. Seated with Dr. García: WASC Team ChairDaniel O. Bernstine (Team Chair), president, Law School Admissions Council.
Photos by Joanie Harmon
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