Whereas: The Academic Senate of Sonoma State agrees that WASC accreditation is critically important to quality education at Sonoma State; and
Whereas: WASC has stated that "the University will need to demonstrate how its systems of assessment and improvement are supported and sustained in order to demonstrate a commitment to institutional capacity and educational effectiveness," and further, that the University will need to "be explicit about the resources and organizational structures that will enable self-review and evaluation of educational effectiveness." (WASC letter to President Arminana, June 28, 2004); and
Whereas: The efficacy of assessment in a five-year review is directly tied to the ongoing effectiveness of reflective assessment procedure, which requires financial and academic resources; and
Whereas: The Academic Senate of Sonoma State University believes that faculty cannot meet WASC requirements for quality assessment of educational effectiveness given the current allocation of resources,
Let it be
Resolved: The Academic Senate of Sonoma State University strongly encourages the Administration to plan for additional resources to allocate to faculty specifically for Program Review and Assessment beginning this academic year and for the future; and
Resolved: The Academic Senate of Sonoma State University will not approve a Program Review Policy that incorporates assessment as an institutional practice until a plan to support this work is implemented by appropriate administrative and faculty bodies.