Accreditation 2019
What is "accreditation?"
Accreditation is a process for assessing and assuring the quality of education. In American higher education, accreditation is based on the principle of collective input, peer review, and continuous improvement. Institutions agree to a set of standards that are based on effective practices, and teams of peers evaluate institutional systems and processes based on the degree to which they meet these standards of good practice. The accreditation process enables institutions to reflect on their own systems, processes, and practices through the institutional self-evaluation process. Our college is currently engaged in this part of the process, as we prepare our Institutional Self-Evaluation Report, or "ISER," in support of accreditation reaffirmation.
Another important component of the accreditation process is the peer review process, through which faculty, administrators, and staff from other two-year colleges in the region review the ISER, visit the campus, interview campus community members, and ultimately make a recommendation to the accrediting commission as to whether the institution should remain fully accredited.
Cuyamaca College will undergo its next accreditation peer review team site visit from September 30th to October 3rd, 2019.
The Accreditation Steering Committee meets every first Friday of the month to work on the ISER. The Committee invites your input on the ISER. We will be vetting the ISER through various participatory governance groups in fall 2018. In addition, drafts of the ISER are posted to the College's Accreditation 2019 webpage in late fall 2018 with feedback forms, through which you can make suggestions for changes to the ISER content.