By UAS Whalesong

The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) team concluded its UAS accreditation visit on April 17 with an overall assessment that was “highly positive,” according to Chancellor Aparna Palmer. 

The site-visit team members included professors and staff from other universities, who held closed-door meetings with staff, faculty, and students on both the Ketchikan and Juneau campuses. While the information shared in each session was confidential, team members allowed one takeaway: Their appreciation of the stunning natural beauty surrounding the UAS campuses. In an email letter to Juneau employees, Palmer said they were also struck by campus grounds and facilities.

The team delivered a preliminary assessment to the UAS Executive Cabinet, some of which Palmer shared, emphasizing important information in bold type.  She said they appreciated:

• the high level of participation from students, staff, and faculty in each session, calling the conversations informative, meaningful, and authentic.
• documents submitted in advance of the visit, which included the Evaluation of Institutional Effectiveness (EIE) and the Policies, Regulations, and Financial Review (PRFR). According to the chancellor’s email, one evaluator called the clarity, depth, and organization of the EIE and PRFR the best they had ever seen.

Palmer said the chair of the site-visit team offered UAS four commendations and two recommendations, to be included in the final report to the Commission.

UAS Commendations:

• Commitment and dedication to Alaska Native culture, heritage, art, traditions, and languages.
• Effectiveness of our institutional learning assessment. Palmer said the team was “blown away by the maturity and strength of our General Education Learning Outcomes (GELO) assessment process.”
• Inclusiveness of our strategic planning process, particularly the engagement of students, staff, faculty, administration, alumni, and community members across all three campuses.
• The strength of our Faculty Senate shared governance. Palmer said the team noted the strong relationship between the UAS Faculty Senate and the administration.

UAS Recommendations:

Chancellor Palmer’s email included the two recommendations received from the NWCCU accreditation team that are already in the new UAS Strategic Plan:

• Propelling the budget planning process via the newly created Budget Advisory Committee to the next level. Palmer said the recommendation calls for a review and evaluation process for annual funding and other proposals across the university, and making recommendations to the UAS Executive Cabinet.
• Continuing our assessment and evaluation of the effectiveness of academic advising. The chancellor said the team recommends gathering more information from students on how UAS can offer more clarity and guidance to students on their academic journeys, which is also reflected in the new strategic plan.

In her email to Juneau employees, Chancellor Palmer said it was important to “note that the commendations and recommendations are still preliminary. It will be up to the full Commission, which will be meeting in July in Seattle, to consider the report submitted by the site visit team and vote on the approval of continuing accreditation. However, because of the very positive nature of our initial feedback, we have every reason to be confident in our continued accreditation as a university!”

The University of Alaska Southeast has been accredited since 1983. The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities reviews university accreditation every seven years.