| The
Commission Standards
The four Commission Standards work together
in an integrated way and several themes thread throughout
them. These themes can provide guidance and structure to self-reflective
dialogue and evaluation of institutional effectiveness as
the institution prepares its self study. The themes include:
• institutional commitments to providing
high quality education
congruent with institutional mission, to focusing on student
learning, and to periodic reflection on the mission statement;
• evaluation, planning, and improvement
in an ongoing and
systematic cycle that includes evaluation, goal setting, resource
distribution, implementation, and reevaluation;
• student learning outcomes as the conscious
and robust demonstration of the effectiveness of institutional
efforts to produce and support student learning by developing
student learning outcomes at the course, program, certificate,
and degree level;
• organization as demonstrated in having
adequate staff, resources and organizational structure (communication
and decision making structures) to identify and make public
learning outcomes, to evaluate the effectiveness of programs
in producing those outcomes, and to make improvements;
• dialogue as a means to ongoing participation
in institutional selfreflection based on reliable information
about the college’s programs and services and evidence
on how well the institution is meeting student needs;
• institutional integrity demonstrated
by concern with honesty, truthfulness, and the manner in which
the institution represents itself to all stakeholders, internal
and external
Note— For a more complete discussion
of these themes, see Guide
to Evaluating Institutions.
Preparation for a self study and a Self Study
Report under these integrated standards requires that attention
be given to weaving these themes with responses given to a
specific standard and its sub-parts. Those charged with the
structuring of the process for doing the self study should
be mindful of the importance of organizing working committees
to address the standards in a
coherent way that leads to holistic assessment of institutional
quality
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