COCC Earns NWCCU Accreditation Renewal

Commissioners commend COCC's organizational culture, use of technology and high level of engagement during the pandemic

The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) recently reaffirmed Central Oregon Community College’s (COCC’s) accreditation for a full term of seven years, the maximum period possible.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NWCCU conducted its site visits virtually this past spring. COCC’s virtual visit was scheduled in April, when the college was just weeks into closing its campuses for spring term because of the emerging international health crisis. However, the pivot to a virtual visit did not negatively impact the college’s accreditation. In fact, the evaluation team and the NWCCU board of commissioners specifically commended COCC for numerous strengths, including:

• The creation of an organizational climate that fosters optimism, collegiality, transparency and inclusiveness.
• The strategic use of technology to enhance communications, transparency, institutional effectiveness and student success.
• The high level of engagement and graciousness during a pandemic.

The NWCCU also made four recommendations for improvement. COCC will address and report on these findings to the NWCCU at regular junctures prior to the college’s next comprehensive visit in seven years. These recommendations include the following:

• Set and articulate meaningful objectives and indicators of [COCC’s] Community Enrichment goal to define mission fulfillment, and to improve its effectiveness in the context of and in comparison with regional and national peer institutions (2020 Standard 1.B.2).
• Refine current practices to create an effective system of evaluation (integrated across all levels of course, program and general education) that systematically assesses student learning outcomes to ensure currency and improvement of teaching, learning and student success (2020 Standard 1.B.1, 1.C.5, 1.C.6, 1.C.7).
• Regularly and systematically evaluate administrators based on clearly communicated criteria (2020 Standard 2.F.4).
• Publicize the institution’s loan default rate on its website (2020 Standard 2.G.5).

COCC’s president, Dr. Laurie Chesley, commended the college and its employees for earning the maximum term for reaffirmed accreditation. “Our virtual site visit came during an unprecedented time last April, but our entire college community rallied and successfully showed our evaluators the great work we do here," she said. "I could not be more proud of all of our faculty and staff.”