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Participate in the WASC Process: Comment on the DRAFT Self-Study Report

Every ten years, Cal Poly has an opportunity to reaffirm its accreditation status with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). The reaffirmation process does not simply check our compliance with a set of specified standards, but instead involves an institutional self-study whose aim is to improve the university.

The self-study process can be an intellectual opportunity – an exercise in collaborating and in “thinking critically and creatively,” to cite our own University Learning Objectives. You can be a part of this process by reviewing and commenting on the DRAFT report, which consists of four thematic essays. Overviews for each theme, including abstracts and action items, are listed below.

For more information on WASC and the self-study process, please visit "Frequently Asked Questions."

Thematic Overviews

Overarching Theme: Our Polytechnic Identity

Institutional agility and campus-wide acceptance of the value of our comprehensive nature are crucial building blocks of an outstanding 21st-century polytechnic.  Cal Poly’s focus on the application of theory to practice will serve us well as we move forward in this increasingly global environment, but we must do two things to ensure its strength: 1) recognize that it is practiced throughout students’ educational experiences, including both academic disciplines not traditionally considered polytechnic and the co-curriculum and 2) obtain the funding necessary to maintain this practice.

Action Items:

REVIEW THE COMPLETE "OUR POLYTECHNIC IDENTITY" ESSAY

Theme 1: Learn-by-Doing

The results of multiple campus surveys suggest that Cal Poly needs a working definition of learn-by-doing that is specific enough to be meaningful and inclusive enough to account for the variety of disciplines at a comprehensive polytechnic university; the multiple curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular venues in which students learn; and the intellectual and practical aspects of higher education.  This essay advances the hypothesis that, because of the “upside-down-curriculum,” learn-by-doing happens earlier and more often in a student’s career at Cal Poly than at comparable institutions.  It observes that any area of the curriculum or co-curriculum not associated with a highly-valued pedagogy, such as learn-by-doing, is necessarily undervalued. General education, and consequently diversity learning, is such an area.  It concludes that learn-by-doing is not a product; it is an intellectual process whereby students, acting alone and in consort with others, gradually acquire essential knowledge and skills through active, self-reflexive engagement with the world inside the classroom and beyond it.

Action Items:

REVIEW THE COMPLETE "LEARN-BY-DOING" ESSAY

Theme 2: Teacher-Scholar Model

Cal Poly is a teaching-centered institution in which scholarship has taken on a greater importance as the mission of the institution has evolved. Both the literature and the results of the Cal Poly Student and Faculty/Staff Surveys indicate that scholarship enhances student learning, but progress toward the teacher-scholar model at Cal Poly has been hampered by the lack of an accepted working definition of the model and of a comprehensive understanding of scholarship. Progress has also been hampered by the lack of accessible information or documentation about what Cal Poly faculty and staff members are accomplishing as scholars. Shared conditions make the CSU campuses an appropriate peer group in this regard, and some measures show that Cal Poly is actually performing quite well. In addition, results of the faculty/staff and department heads/chairs surveys show a surprisingly high level of scholarly engagement. Unfortunately, support has not kept up with increasing needs, and there continue to be many impediments related to workload, resources, and infrastructure. The solution might lie in a more nuanced understanding of how academic careers change over time. Boyer’s idea of the “creativity contract” embodies this understanding and serves as the model for a revitalized professional development plan.

Action Items:

REVIEW THE COMPLETE "TEACHER-SCHOLAR MODEL" ESSAY

Theme 3: Integration and Student Learning

A cornerstone of ensuring the personal, professional and intellectual growth of our students is intentional integration which supports student learning.  The Cal Poly self-study contends that learning takes place in a number of different venues – curricular, co-curricular, and work-oriented.  Rather than providing a compartmentalized education, we have a compelling opportunity to more clearly connect our students’ various learning experiences.  This WASC self-study theme affirms several steps that should be taken to more effectively connect learning at Cal Poly.  First, to recognize university staff in the Cal Poly Mission Statement, acknowledging the role that both faculty and staff serve in student learning.  Next, to insure that the University Learning Objectives (ULOs) are our most important vehicle of integration across all campus programs and services as part of program design and review, more effectively allowing for evidence-based decision making founded upon learning outcome assessment.  Several case studies illuminate learning through integration as part of this theme, presenting Cal Poly’s capacity in various venues.  Students participate actively in the curriculum, co-curriculum and work experience; it remains for us to consciously foster and connect these activities with an intentional program across the university.  Last, Cal Poly’s commitment to Inclusive Excellence, based on the assertion that a university must be inclusive in order to be excellent, is well-connected to the Diversity Learning Objectives (DLOs) and along with the ULOs, focus upon strengthening student learning and success across the university.

Action Items:

REVIEW THE COMPLETE "INTEGRATION AND STUDENT LEARNING" ESSAY