SACS ACCREDITATION NEWS
Wallace State Community College
Wallace State Community College (WSCC) is currently fully accredited by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award the degrees of Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, and Associate in Applied Science. The last reaffirmation visit was in September 1994.
The On-Site Accreditation Reaffirmation visit occurred September 27-29, 2004. The internal institutional review was a two year-long process in which an intensive analysis of each operational unit of the College was conducted by the SACS Principal Committees and the Leadership Team.
The reaffirmation of the College’s accreditation was a two-phase process. The first phase involved a review by an Off-Site Committee of the College’s Compliance Certification on May 19, 2004. A follow-up report, the Focused Report, was compiled by the SACS Leadership Team which addressed the concerns of the Off-Site Committee.
The second phase in the reaffirmation was the development of the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). The QEP Team (TeamEXCEL) collaborated with the campus community and identified the focus, objectives, and initiatives of the QEP. The QEP focus is Innovation for Student Success: Enhancing Student Outcomes Through Engagement. The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools appointed an On-Site Reaffirmation Committee. This team of peer evaluators was responsible for reviewing the QEP, the Focused Report, and other documents that the College submitted.
The On-Site Reaffirmation Committee visited the campus of WSCC on September 27-29, for further evaluation of the College’s compliance with the requirements and standards for reaffirmation and analyzed the QEP development, implementation plan, and evaluation plan. The Leadership Team and the Hospitality Committee hosted the On-Site Committee.
During the three-day visit, the team conducted interviews of faculty and staff and looked at documentation, plans and historical data to determine whether the college is following an acceptable path for instruction and if it has in place an ambitious and attainable Quality Enhancement Plan for institutional improvement.
The College received only one recommendation from the visit, making it the best SACS visit in the Alabama College System in more than a decade. A report of the On-Site Reaffirmation Committee’s findings will be submitted to the College and the follow-up process has already begun by TeamEXCEL based on the On-Site Committee’s preliminary report.
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