WSCUC Update- Great News!

Dear WesternU Students, Staff, and Faculty:

I am excited to announce that the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Commission (WASC) has granted the Western University of Health Sciences full Institutional Accreditation without restrictions.

I wish to express immense gratitude to the WesternU Community for this success. The achievement is a testament to the team-driven, cohesive, and dedicated efforts of the 5 branches of governance working together. The credit for this landmark success is aptly directed to you. Thank you for all you do and all that you have done to support our University, its highly valued and cherished students, and its mission!

This news represents a particularly meaningful outcome for WesternU because it signifies the best possible result in our extraordinary transition toward a mature university. The WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) recognizes this transition and acknowledges WesternU as an evidence-based culture promoting civility, transparency, and communication.

WesternU is well-positioned to build on the progress we have already made, turning our weaknesses into strengths, acknowledging our educational quality and effectiveness, and reaffirming our commitment to continuous quality improvements to meet shared goals.

WesternU is well positioned for growth and expansion, including Designing WesternU’s Future, our strategic business plan; launching our capital campaign; and implementing our land development project.

The WSCUC Decision was issued approximately 2 weeks following an in-person meeting with the WSCUC Commission team, in San Francisco, in which the University was permitted only two representatives, the President and the Associate Vice President, and Accreditation Liaison Officer.

There are several WesternU unsung heroes that I wish to thank and express gratitude.

1. The WSCUC Commission and team allowed a Delegation from WesternU to participate via an audio link. The Delegation team, a truly extraordinarily effective team aligned behind the University mission, seamlessly united behind an effective roadmap to achieve a successful goal. The WesternU Delegation included:

• Suresh Appavoo, VP HEAR;
• Stephanie Bowlin, Special Advisor to the Office of the President and Provost;
• Robert Bruce, Staff Council;
• Joshua Cameron, Executive Liaison Officer;
• Paula Crone, Provost;
• Hyma Gogineni, Academic Senate;
• Sunil Prabhu, Deans Council; and
• Theresa Tibbs, Chief Human Resources Officer.

2. Juan Ramirez, our Accreditation Liaison Officer and Assistant Vice President of Institutional Research, chaired the Institutional WesternU WSCUC Committee and was integral to the success of this process. This Committee is a laudably dedicated and effective team aligned behind the University mission. This extraordinary team included participation from the following:

• Stephanie Bowlin, Special Advisor to the Office of the President and Provost
• Satoko Siegel, Assessment Analyst
• Suresh Appavoo, Vice President of HEAR
• Raj Kandpal, Academic Senate
• Hyma Gogineni, Academic Senate
• Maria Moreno, Staff Council
• Joshua Littig, Student Government Association, DPM 2025
• Tim Wood, AVP of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
• Sunil Prabhu, Deans Council
• Richard Bond, Board of Trustees
• Shairon Zingsheim, Interim Chief Human Resources Officer

3. WesternU’s General Counsel, Simone Miller, who spent countless hours creating, reviewing, editing, revising, and managing documents and meetings;

4. Chief of Staff, Jill Ferreira, who tirelessly choreographed and managed innumerable administrative WSCUC preparatory tasks.

This WSCUC process and decision has significant academic, and educational, impact for WesternU, including the following:

1. Lifting of any Notice of Concern;
2. WSCUC requested no additional reporting requirements until the next regular scheduled visit culminating in 2026;
3. The University is well positioned to build on the progress already made within each recommendation;
4. The process allowed the University to turn weaknesses into strengths;
5. The accreditation process facilitates the institution to develop and maintain educational quality and effectiveness;
6. The accreditation process assures prospective students and the general public that WesternU has met high standards of quality;
7. This process and decision reaffirms that the University is committed to continuous quality improvement to meet its shared goals;
8. WesternU is now positioned to realize its goals of growth and expansion, development of a strategic business plan, pursuit of a capital campaign, implementation of its land development project, and explore attractive new development opportunities.

I thought it helpful to provide you with WesternU’s institutional accreditation history culminating in the 2023 WSCUC Decision:

1. WSCUC granted accreditation to the University in March 1996 – the same year that WesternU was renamed, Western University of Health Sciences;
2. WesternU received reaffirmations of its WSCUC accreditation in 2001 and 2010;
3. In the 2018 report, WSCUC required a Special Visit to be scheduled in spring 2021 to address an update to recommendations on the university’s Board of Trustees and Diversity, and following several university-initiated discussions, Shared Governance was also added to the 2021 site visit;
4. Following the Special Visit in 2021, WesternU received a Formal Notice of Concern from the WSCUC which noted WesternU was in danger of being found in non-compliance with one or more Standards if current trends or findings continued in the areas of Shared Governance, Board Of Trustees, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion;
5. WesternU continued to collectively push for significant and meaningful change in the time leading up to the Special Visit in February 2023 and thereafter;
6. The Special Visit occurred in February 2023;
7. Findings of the Special Visit Team were delivered to the University in March;
8. The University submitted a response to the Special Visit Team Report in May;
9. University representatives met with the WSCUC Commission in June, including my one-on-one meetings with Anna DiStefano, lead for the Special Site Visit team;
10. The process to respond to the WSCUC recommendations, prepare for the Special Visit, and interact with WSCUC were highly inclusive;
11. The WSCUC 2023 Special Visit Committee included representation from the five Branches of Governance (i.e. Academic Senate, Deans Council, Staff Council, Student Government Association, University Executive Operations Team) and the Board of Trustees;
12. The WSCUC 2023 Special Visit Committee developed WesternU’s institutional accreditation report with the help of input gathered in meetings, interviews, and surveys; drafts of the institutional report were circulated to the five Branches of Governance for feedback;
13. The WSCUC Commission had met with dozens of stakeholder representatives across three days of meetings;
14. The University took the unprecedented action of requesting an extension so that each Branch of Governance could provide additional input on our institutional response to the Special Visit Team Report before it was submitted to WSCUC;
15. All five Branches of Governance were invited to participate in the meeting with the WSCUC Commission and Team.

Of note, in preparation for my arrival to WesternU, March, 2022, I engaged immediately with WesternU in partnership with Interim President Sylvia Manning, the Board of Trustees, and what would become the institutions five branches of governance, in November and December, 2021, to take several significant steps toward rectifying the Notice of Concern in the intervening 18 months, as the university prepared a formal Special Visit Report in December 2022.

These steps included:

1. Codified shared governance principles in the University Faculty Handbook;
2. Established the WesternU Staff Council – a fifth branch in the WesternU expanded shared governance structure;
3. Expanded the size and expertise of the WesternU Board of Trustees;
4. Activated all Board subcommittees;
5. Established the Office of Humanism, Equity, and Anti-Racism (HEAR);
6. Funded a Trustee Scholarship Program; and
7. Ratified three BOT Resolutions in direct response to the WSCUC Recommendations at the last BOT meeting in May, 2023.

Finally, I wish to underscore again my immeasurable gratitude to you, the highly valued members of the WesternU Community, for all your extraordinary support of the WesternU’s cherished students, and alignment behind the WesternU mission.

This is just the beginning of an extremely bright future in which the University will build upon its evidence-based culture, while promoting humanism, civility, transparency, and communication.

My very warmest regards,
Robin