SF State’s most recent accreditation was received in 2023 for 8 years. Our next review is in 2031.
The WASC accreditation process aids institutions in developing and sustaining effective educational programs and assures the educational community, the general public, and other organizations that an accredited institution has met high standards of quality and effectiveness. In addition to assessing the academic quality and educational effectiveness of institutions, the Commission emphasizes institutional structures, processes, and resources.
Our reaffirmation process began in spring 2021 with the formation of the WASC Steering Committee and the Writing Groups. Data and evidence were gathered to conduct the self-study and draft the institutional report. The draft of the institutional report was shared across campus and feedback incorporated in the final draft.
- September 22, 2022: Institutional report and all supporting documents submitted to WSCUC (see relevant document area below).
- December 13, 2022: Offsite review by our peer review team. Offsite Review (OSR) Summary Lines of Inquiry received (see relevant documents area below). The lines of inquiry provide focus for the accreditation visit in April 2023.
- April 5 – 7, 2023: Accreditation visit takes place on campus.
- June 2023: WSCUC Commission Meeting with expected decision on reaccreditation.
Meet with the Review Team at Student, Staff or Faculty Forums:
The review team has scheduled open forums with students, with staff and with faculty, to provide an opportunity for informal input from all members of the campus community about their experiences with the institution.
Staff forum: April 6th, 11:15 - 12:00, HSS 154
Student forum: April 6th, 11:15 - 12:00, LIB 244
Faculty forum: April 6th, 2:00 - 2:45, HSS 154
Confidential Email to Contact the WASC Review Team
The WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) understands that not everyone who may wish to participate can attend these meetings, and has therefore established a confidential email account to give everyone the opportunity to communicate with the team.
The email account is created by a WSCUC staff member and only authorized WSCUC staff and team members have access to it. The emails are not viewed by any representative of the institution.
The email account is created for this visit only and will be closed once the WSCUC team leaves the campus on April 7th. Only comments made before or during the visit will be considered as part of the review process.
Institutional reports, on-campus interviews, open sessions, and email comments become part of the information collected and reviewed by the team. Please note that team members will not respond individually to comments provided through any of these venues, including the confidential email account. However, the input from comments, along with other forms of information, will be considered as the team undertakes its work and develops recommendations to the institution.
The team is not able to meet individually with members of the campus community, so please do not use the email account to request private appointments.
To write to the WSCUC team, please address your email to: sfsu@wscuc.org
Lori Beth Way, Vice Provost of Academic Planning and Dean of Undergraduate Education, ALO - Division of Undergraduate Education and Academic Planning, Academic Affairs
Teddy Albiniak, Special Assistant to the President and Provost, Lecturer - Department of Communications Studies, College of Liberal and Creative Arts
Kim Altura, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education - Division of Undergraduate Education and Academic Planning, Academic Affairs
Claude Bartholomew, University Curriculum Coordinator - Division of Undergraduate Education and Academic Planning, Academic Affairs
Sophie Clavier, Dean - Division of Graduate Studies, Academic Affairs
Jane DeWitt, Associate Dean of Academic Planning - Division of Undergraduate Education and Academic Planning, Academic Affairs
Jesus Garcia, Executive Director of Administration - Administration and Finance
Mike Goldman, Chair - Academic Senate and Professor - Department of Biology, College of Science & Engineering
Margo Landy, Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management and University Registrar - Division of Enrollment Management, Student Affairs and Enrollment Management
Katie Lynch, Senior Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management - Division of Enrollment Management, Student Affairs and Enrollment Management
Carleen Mandolfo, Associate Vice President - Faculty Affairs & Professional Development, Academic Affairs
Jeannette Peralta, Executive Director. Organizational Development for Human Resources - Human Resources, Administration and Finance
Mia Reisweber, Assistant Dean of Students - Division of Student Life, Student Affairs and Enrollment Management
Caitlin Steele, Director of Sustainability & Energy - Capital Planning Design & Construction, University Enterprises
Elena Stoian, Executive Director Budget Administration and Operations - Budget Administration & Operations, Administration and Finance
Genie Stowers, Chair, Academic Policies Committee - Academic Senate and Professor - Public Administration Program, College of Health and Social Sciences
Sutee Sujitparapitaya, Associate Provost - Institutional Analytics, Academic Affairs
The WASC accreditation process aids institutions in developing and sustaining effective educational programs and assures the educational community, the general public, and other organizations that an accredited institution has met high standards of quality and effectiveness. In addition to assessing the academic quality and educational effectiveness of institutions, the Commission emphasizes institutional structures, processes, and resources.
The accreditation process is aimed at:
- Assuring the educational community, the general public, and other organizations and agencies that an accredited institution has demonstrated it meets the Commission's Core Commitments to Institutional Capacity and Educational Effectiveness, and has been successfully reviewed under Commission Standards;
- Promoting deep institutional engagement with issues of educational effectiveness and student learning, and developing and sharing good practices in assessing and improving the teaching and learning process;
- Developing and applying Standards to review and improve educational quality and institutional performance, and validating these Standards and revising them through ongoing research and feedback;
- Promoting within institutions a culture of evidence where indicators of performance are regularly developed and evidence collected to inform institutional decision making, planning, and improvement;
- Developing systems of institutional review and evaluation that are adaptive to institutional context and purposes, that build on institutional evidence and support rigorous reviews, and reduce the burden and cost of accreditation; and
- Promoting the active interchange of ideas among public and independent institutions that furthers the principles of improved institutional performance, educational effectiveness, and the process of peer review From the WSCUC Handbook of Accreditation
The institutional report (50 – 75 pages) is at the core of the WASC review process. The purpose of the institutional report is to document how SF State:
- “creates learning environments that continuously strive for educational excellence and operational effectiveness in order to serve both students and the public good.” (2013 WASC Handbook of Accreditation)
- demonstrates our commitment to student learning and success, to quality and improvement, and to institutional integrity, sustainability and accountability.
The institutional report must address the 4 standards and 39 Criteria for Review (CFR) defined by WASC. (link to the 2013 standards at a Glance pdf)
Faculty, staff and students were recruited in spring 2021 to participate in the self-study and write drafts of sections 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 over the summer. Each writing group had one faculty and one staff or administrator co-leads. Thirty-eight faculty, staff and students participated in a writing group.
Section 3: Degree Programs: Meaning, Quality, and Integrity of Degrees
Genie Stowers (Professor, Public Administration, HSS), Co-Chair
Christina Sabee (Associate Dean, LCA), Co-Chair
James Aguilar (Director of Government and Community Relations, Associated Students)
Anoshua Chaudhuri (Professor, Chair, Economics,LFCoB)
Meredith Eliassen (Special Collections and Archives, J. Paul Leonard Library)
Wei Ming Dariotis (Professor, Asian American Studies, CoES; CEETL Faculty Directory)
Chris Moffat (Professor, Biology, CoSE; Faculty Director of GE, DUEAP)
Section 4: Educational Quality: Student Learning, Core Competencies, and Standard of Performance at Graduation
Gwen Allen (Professor, Director, School of Art, LCA), Co-Chair
Sophie Clavier (Dean, Graduate Studies), Co-Chair
Karen Nelson Villanueva (Program Lead,CEL)
Grace Yoo (Professor, Asian American Studies, CoES; FYE Faculty Director, DUEAP)
Kendra Van Cleave (Associate Librarian, J. Paul Leonard Library)
Juliana Van Olphen (Professor, Public Health, HSS; Faculty Director of WAC, CEETL)
Yim-Yu Wong (Associate Dean, LFCoB)
Section 5: Student Success: Student Learning, Retention, and Graduation
Arlene Daus-Magbual (Director, AAPI Student Services, SAEM), Co-Chair
Susanna Jones (Asst. Dean, HSS), Co-Chair
Marilyn Jackson (Director, Office of International Programs)
Jeff Cookston (Professor, Psychology, CoSE)
Jennifer Valencia (Director of Retention and Graduation initiatives, Associated Students)
Taylor Harman (Faculty Co-Director of Writing Tutoring, TASC)
Mary Beth Love (Executive Director, Metro College Success Program; Professor, Public Health, HSS)
Laura Epstein (Professor, Chair, Speech, Language and Hearing Science, GCoE)
Nicole Bolter (Associate Professor, Kinesiology,HSS)
Section 6: Quality Assurance and Improvement: Program Review, Assessment, Use of Data and Evidence
Susan Roe (Associate Professor, Hospitality and Tourism Management, LFCoB), Co-Chair
Catriona Esquibel (Associate Dean, CoES), Co-Chair
Jennifer Shea (Associate Professor, Public Administration, HSS)
Burcu Ellis (Professor, International Relations, LCA)
Eurania Lopez (Asst. Director Undergraduate Admissions and Enrollment, SAEM)
Diana Chu (Professor, Biology, CoSE)
Mia Reisweber (Director, Student Activities & Events, SAEM)
Section 7: Sustainability: Financial Viability; Preparing for the Changing Higher Education Environment
Yvonne Bui (Professor, Chair, Special Education, GCoE), Co-Chair
George Haris (Associate Director Employee & Family Housing, A&F), Co-Chair
Janelle Waldrep (Study Abroad Coordinator, Office of International Programs)
Nancy Gerber (Faculty Director of Advising, DUEAP; Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Michael Goldman (Professor, Biology, CoSE)
Bonnie Li Victorino (Director of Finance and Operations, LFCoB)
Mai Nhung Le (Professor, Chair, Asian American Studies, CoES)
Frederick Smith (AVP, Division of Equity & Community Inclusion, SAEM)
Section 1: Introduction: Institutional Context; Response to Previous Commission Actions
Section 2: Compliance: Review under the WSCUC Standards and Compliance with Federal Requirements; Inventory of Educational Effectiveness Indicators
Section 3: Degree Programs: Meaning, Quality, and Integrity of Degrees
- Curriculum and courses, co-curricular experiences, overall student experiences, institutional values and goals for graduates, articulating the meaning of a degree
Section 4: Educational Quality: Student Learning, Core Competencies, and Standards of Performance at Graduation
- Articulation of learning outcomes, assessment of student learning, identification of and response to achievement gaps, centering student learning
Section 5: Student Success: Student Learning, Retention, and Graduation
- Definition of student success, institutional goals for success, how student success is promoted and supported, approaches used to understand and improve retention and graduation
Section 6: Quality Assurance and Improvement: Program Review; Assessment; Use of Data and Evidence
- The use of data, program review and assessment to inform decision making and institutional improvements
Section 7: Sustainability: Financial Viability; Preparing for the Changing Higher Education Environment
- Alignment of financial allocations with institutional priorities, identification of and response to changes in higher education, sustainability of educational effectiveness over time
Section 8: Institution-specific Theme(s): Optional
Section 9: Conclusion: Reflection and Plans for Improvement
The co-chairs of the writing groups reviewed drafts of each section, revised those sections and combined into a full draft by the end of fall 2021. The full draft was shared with the WASC steering committee, Extended Cabinet, and Academic Affairs Council and further revised. In February, the revised draft was shared with and feedback requested from each college council, the Executive Committee of Academic Senate, Academic Senate, Associated Students and leadership councils of A&F, University Enterprises, SAEM and the J. Paul Leonard Library. The March 2022 draft was shared across campus, with a campus forum on the self-study held in April 2022. Feedback on the March draft was incorporated into the final draft which was finalized over the summer, reviewed and approved by campus leadership, and submitted to WSCUC on September 22, 2022.