Camarillo, Calif., July 28, 2015 – CSU Channel Islands (CI) has been re-accredited for nine years by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). The WASC visiting team applauded CI on its creativity, ingenuity and tenacity in sustaining quality educational and co-curricular results for their students.
WASC cited a number of commendations including a mission-centered design that keeps students and their success as the focus of planning and decision-making; passion for the mission of the University expressed through the four pillars that informs institutional ethos and culture; commitment to diversity, realized through the demographic composition of the student body; pedagogical design that puts multidisciplinary understanding at the core of student learning; commitment to student success, exemplified by many and varied support systems and evidenced by nearly identical retention and graduation rates for underserved and better served students; a focus on regional issues that together with an entrepreneurial spirit, fuels creative thinking about public/private partnerships; and recent improvements to institutional research and data.
“We received commendations for the passion we have for our mission, our commitment to student success and our focus on regional issues among many other highlights,” said CI President Richard R. Rush. “I am proud of our students, faculty, staff and administration, who all came forward to let WASC officials know about our exceptional campus.”
WASC officials visited the campus April 8-10 and issued re-accreditation in mid-July.
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs/John Spoor Broome Library and Accreditation Liaison Amy Wallace said she is “incredibly thankful” for how the campus pulled together during every stage of the process.
There were at least 150 people involved in writing the report WASC requires, and more than 500 who showed up at a series of voluntary open meetings, including one for staff, which drew more than 300.
Wallace said, “People didn’t just say they were committed to students, they showed it.”
Rush said the experience was valuable for a number of reasons. “The process not only earned us a nine year re-accreditation, but more importantly it helped us reflect collectively on our successes, learn from our challenges and plan for our future success intentionally,” he said.
# # #
About California State University Channel Islands
CSU Channel Islands(CI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CI’s strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative master’s degrees. Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research. CI has been designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is committed to serving students of all backgrounds from the region and beyond. Connect with and learn more by visiting CI's Social Media.