As UCLA’s accreditation external liaison, I provide leadership to the campus and advise the dean for undergraduate education and the dean of graduate education on Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) accreditation criteria and standards for review. I also work with WSCUC staff to help them understand issues related to accreditation at UCLA and share insights gleaned through our campus-based efforts with colleagues at WSCUC-sponsored events (see speaking engagements).
One major set of my accreditation-related responsibilities revolved around UCLA's Initiative to Evaluate the Educational Effectiveness of Programs for Undergraduate Students, which builds on the institutional framework for assessing educational effectiveness that now emerita dean and vice provost Judith Smith and I developed in partnership with Academic Senate and other campus leaders. Currently, UCLA is in the midst of a multi-phased effort to systematically engage baccalaureate degree-granting programs in addressing outcomes-based student learning assessment as part of UCLA's longstanding eight-year program review process. Associated writing includes:
UCLA Core Competencies Workgroup (2015). Report on Western Association of Schools and Colleges Expectations for Assessing "Core Competencies" within Undergraduate Education & Recommendations for UCLA Action. Report to the UCLA Senate Undergraduate Council.
Lindholm, J.A. (2013). Developing a Campus Culture that Embraces Assessment of Learning in Majors. Essay written to support plenary address presented at the 2013 Quantitative Reasoning and Assessing Student Learning in Majors Workshop sponsored by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
Lindholm, J.A. (2010). Guidelines for Developing and Assessing Student Learning Outcomes for Undergraduate Majors, 1st Edition. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Division of Undergraduate Education.
For more information about UCLA's accreditation process, please visit: http://www.wasc.ucla.edu.