Overview

During 2009 South Seattle Community College participated in a comprehensive re-accreditation evaluation by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). In this process South had an opportunity to formally assess how well we are accomplishing our mission of helping people transform their lives.  The NWCCU defines accreditation as  “… a voluntary, non-governmental, self-regulating process of quality assurance and institutional improvement.  It recognizes higher education institutions for performance, integrity, and quality to merit the confidence of the educational community and the public.” 

South has been accredited since our initial review in 1975. The usual full accreditation review cycle is every 10 years, with a smaller, interim review at five years.  South’s last full review was in October 2000, and our interim review was in October 2005. 

On October 19-21, 2009, a NWCCU team of about a dozen experts in higher education, drawn from peer institutions, visited South to inspect, question, observe – to give the college, its people, programs and facilities a comprehensive review.  In its preliminary report at the end of the visit the team left South with six potential commendations for accomplishments and six potential recommendations for improvements, which would become part of its final report.

South was commended for:

• being “highly collaborative, genuinely committed to the learning of their students and collectively determined to meet all challenges faced by the college.”
• “…creative and successful partnerships with community and industry.”
• “…transparent budgeting processes on campus.”
• “…commitment to evaluation and data-driven decision making.”
• “…effective educational support for its diverse student body.”
• “…the broad collaboration and effective planning that have supported the new baccalaureate program.”

The recommendations include these:

• “…identify program outcomes which differentiate between certificate and degree programs.”
• Changes in materials for students about advising support.
• Hiring full-time faculty for each field of "major work", after finding one program with only part-time faculty
• Make changes to computer equipment and website.
• “…work with the District Office to publish the individual college budget in addition to the aggregate District Budget….”

Later, the NWCCU issues a final report, which reaffirms accreditation, or sets a timetable for any changes deemed necessary for continuing accreditation.

“I think it would be fair to state that our commendations are truly significant, campus-wide in scope and speak to the degree to which we are successfully meeting our mission and goals,” said Interim President Gary Oertli in announcing the preliminary findings to the campus. The recommendations “are easily correctable, as commented by the chair of the evaluation team,” Oertli said. “My goal is to address the recommendations as quickly as possible."

Our full review came one year earlier this round because of South’s Bachelor of Applied Science in Hospitality Management program, which completed its second year of operation and graduated its first class in June 2009.  Because South now has the bachelor’s program, it makes us a four-year-degree institution in the view of the NWCCU, and called for an earlier review. 

As part of the accreditation review process, and to prepare for the on-campus visit, each college or university conducts a self-study, which is a rigorous review based on set criteria we must meet in nine areas of standards.  The standards include the educational program and its effectiveness, governance and administration, faculty, finance, and physical resources. At South, more than 150 of faculty and staff were involved in this intensive process for more than two years.  The self-study becomes a book that is reviewed by the entire campus, and read by the review committee prior to its visit.

South’s 2009 self study and related documents are posted below.  Also posted below are key documents related to our five-year review in 2005 and our full review in 2000. In the 2005 review South received five commendations and no recommendations for improvement.

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Accreditation Documents        2009 | 2005 | 2000

2009 Institutional Self Study

• Self Study (218 page PDF file )
• Supplemental Information (2 page PDF)
• SSCC Admissions Report (1 page PDF)
• BAS Admissions Report (1 page PDF)

2005 Final Fifth Year Interim Report from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
(18 page PDF file)

Note: The recommendations listed at the beginning of this report are from the full, ten-year Accreditation Review conducted in 2000; this report notes the college response to those recommendations. The summary of findings from this interim, five-year review is found at the end of this report; the college received five commendations and no recommendations for improvement.

2005 Fifth Year Interim Report from the college
(82 page PDF file)

2002 Progress Report for Reaffirmation of Accreditation
(6 page PDF file)

2000 Evaluation Committee Report
(40 page PDF file)

2000 Institutional Self Study
(196 page PDF file available in the following sections)

Executive Summary   (pages i-vi)
Table of Contents   (pages vii-xi)
Acronyms   (pages xiii-xv)
Preface   (pages xvii-xxvii)

Standard I  Institutional Mission & Goals, Planning &
 Effectiveness (pages 1-12)
Standard II  Educational Program & Its Effectiveness
    (pages 13-110)
Standard III  Students and Student Services
    (pages 111-134)
Standard IV  Faculty
    (pages 135-146)
Standard V  Library and Information Resources
    (pages 147-154)
Standard VI  Governance and Administration
    (pages 155-166)
Standard VII  Finance
    (pages 167-180)
Standard VIII  Physical Resources
   (pages 181-188)
Standard IX  Institutional Integrity
    (pages 189-196)

• Information about 2005 Interim Review (4 page PDF)
• 2005-2007 Institutional Goals  (2 page PDF)
• 2005-2007 College Wide Priorities  (1 page PDF)
• 2003-2004 Progress Report  (1 page PDF)
• 2003-2005 College Wide Priorities  (1 page PDF)



• Mission Statement
• Student Learning Outcomes
• Student Statistics and Enrollment Data