SACSCOC site visits next week

Dear Texas Woman’s Colleagues:

Ready, set, here we go!

Next week, nine higher-ed professionals from other institutions around the South will be visiting our campuses on behalf of our university’s regional accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

Those committee members can request interviews with anyone in the Texas Woman’s University community, and we need to be as responsive as possible to those requests. They may want to drop into classes to observe teaching or to visit offices to ask about specific records. They are empowered to do this. (See “Who Are the Accreditors and Why Are They Here?” below my signature.) Because our accreditors’ inquiries will be wide-ranging and fluid, we may reach out to you as late as Tuesday, April 11 or Wednesday, April 12 for materials, files, or interview arrangements.

What You Might Be Asked About

One major focus of the committee's visit will be our new Quality Enhancement Plan. Every ten years, institutions in our accreditation region must come up with a plan to improve student success or student learning in a focused or themed area. Our new plan, "Amplify Your Impact," focuses on graduate student public-facing communication skill building for the purpose of advancing community wellbeing. You might be asked questions about how you foresee your operations or instructions dovetailing with this initiative. It is fine to acknowledge that the initiative is still new and to speculate about how you might be able to contribute to or participate in such an effort, in the future.

Depending on your role at the university, you may also be asked questions about procedures, policies, or student learning as those elements pertain to your duties. Answer these courteously to the best of your ability.

Timeline of Events

The committee is visiting Dallas and Houston on Monday and will visit the Denton campus on Tuesday, April 11 and Wednesday, April 12. The committee members depart after an exit briefing on Thursday morning, April 13.

We will have a sense of how we did after the briefing, but we also have the opportunity to respond to their findings between then and September. The final determination about our accreditation status will be announced by the SACSCOC board at the agency’s annual meeting in December 2023.

Conclusion

Thank you for playing your part in building a wonderfully unique campus community with the highest quality instruction. Should you have an opportunity, please provide our visiting review team members a warm, Texas Woman’s welcome.

With a pioneering spirit,

Carine M. Feyten, Ph.D.
Chancellor and President

Who Are Our Accreditors and Why Are They Here?

In the U.S., higher education institutions and programs are reviewed by accreditors, which are private, nongovernmental organizations created for the specific purpose of ensuring quality standards. These institutional accrediting bodies are organized regionally. Texas Woman’s University belongs to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

Page last updated 8:48 AM, April 6, 2023