Academic Affairs News

Dear Faculty and Staff, 

Fall 2023 marks the beginning of our data collection year as part of our ten-year reaffirmation process for institutional accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Having institutional accreditation (formerly called regional accreditation) is important for several reasons: it is an assurance of the quality of our academic degrees, assurance that we are following federal regulations, and allows us to receive Title IV financial aid funds. 

Preparations for reaffirmation began last year as writing teams undertook the arduous work of developing drafts for each of the seventy-three standards that constitute the off-site compliance certification report. An internal team reviewed those drafts this past August and feedback was provided to the writing teams. 

Standards pending current year data aside, currently a second internal review team is evaluating the revised drafts, and feedback will be distributed to the writing teams in December. 

In Spring 2024, an external consultant will review the drafts for each standard and provide feedback and then our liaison from SACSCOC will visit us next June and provide more feedback and guidance as we prepare the off-site report for submission by September 8, 2024. 

The fun does not stop there! In November 2024, a SACSCOC Committee will review our off-site compliance certification report and provide feedback to which WKU must respond by January 2025 and include our Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). 

Lastly, our on-site visit by a SACSCOC review team will occur the week of March 10, 2025. We will receive feedback from the on-site review team shortly thereafter to which WKU must respond within five months. The final decision on our reaffirmation will occur during the SACSOC Board of Trustees meeting in December 2025. 

Short timeline:

• August 2023 – Summer Review of First Drafts
• October 2023 – Fall Review of Revised Drafts
• Spring 2024 – External Review of Newly Revised Drafts
• Summer 2024 – Program Assessment (Assurance of Student Learning) and Assessment of Support Units will submit 23-24 reports to be included in the compliance certification report.
• September 2024 – Off-site Compliance Certification Report due to SACSCOC.
• November 2024 – Off-site Committee review
• January 2025 – QEP plan due, Focused Report in response to feedback from the off-site Committee due
• March 2025 – On-site SACSCOC Review Committee
• September 2025 – Response due, if applicable
• December 2025 – Review by SACSCOC Board of Trustees

This work takes a huge amount of time and effort from our faculty and staff, and I appreciate how much everyone involved has contributed. I would like to especially thank the team leaders, writers, and reviewers, as well as the many people across campus who contributed data, documentation, program assessments and support unit assessments.

Robert “Bud” Fischer
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs