Author: Laura Bertocci
On Thursday, March 4, evaluators from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) held three meetings for students, faculty, and administration to discuss changes the school should take into consideration during its reaccreditation process. The college’s status as an accredited institution ensures its good reputation, as well as maintaining the value of an Occidental degree.
Accreditation is the three-phase process ensuring that an institution is meeting the WASC’s standards of organization for student learning, curriculum and instruction, support for students’ personal and academic growth, and resource management and development. The three phases of the WASC’s accreditation process include a self-evaluation report by the school, a visit by WASC evaluators to the school’s campus, and finally a review published for school administrators.
Occidental has been accredited with the association since 1949, most recently renewing its status in 2001.
According to Director of Communications James Tranquada, there is no question that Occidental will retain its accreditation, but the evaluation process allows the college to decide what areas – whether within the school’s academics, infrastructure, or student life – need improvement, and to certify that its mission statement is being followed as effectively as possible.
The meetings provided an open forum for individuals to share their thoughts and concerns about the college so that the evaluators could consider the opinions of the campus first hand before they make their final report. The Association traditionally meets with different members of the college communityto better understand the current status of any given institution.
Before the evaluators arrived, they were provided with the Capacity and Preparatory Review Report (CPR Report), compiled by Oxy’s Institutional Research Office. The CPR Report is a self-evaluation that addresses how well the college feels it is following its mission and representing its four cornerstones of Excellence, Equity, Community, and Service. Other subjects such as the core program, academic support, finance, and faculty support are also targeted.
The site team arrived on campus on Wednesday, March 3 to begin its interviews, the focal point of its visit. The team met with committees of administration officials, faculty and students that were assembled in preparation for this event, including a development committee, budget group, general education assessment committee, and faculty council. Each committee was designed to be able to answer specific questions from evaluators.
On Thursday, Oxy held three open forum meetings with students, faculty, and administration. Due to the confidential nature of the meetings, The Occidental Weekly was only granted access to the meeting between WASC representatives and students.
Students who attended the meeting voiced concerns overthe class registration process, overcrowded housing, and what some described as a “false sense of diversity.”
While the college includes diversity in its mission statement, some students expressed that Oxy is not as diverse as it claims to be. Black Student Alliance President Lindsey Fuller (senior) spoke about what she considers to be a noticeable lack of students of color on campus. Additionally, one of Fuller’s major concerns was her perception that the multicultural Pauley Hall now houses mainly white students.
Fuller also brought up the issue that the school’s staff is mostly of color, and that it is demeaning to students to see the few other people on campus of their own race picking up trash.
“I watch people of color pick up our trash, as well as people disrespecting the Latino cleaning ladies who clean our halls andbathrooms when they put up ‘do not enter’ signs. These service employees are the only other people on campus who share a race with minority students, and to see people of your own race being treated this way is demoralizing,” said Fuller.
Other students voiced similar concerns. “The employees at the Cooler are the only people I speak Spanish to. I often find myself asking if they want to hang out, because I have more in common with them than most of my peers,” Christian Hernandez (sophomore) said.
After the WASC’s student meeting, ASOC Senator Stephanie Tardif (senior) said, “A lot [of] people of color are upset about how diversity at Oxy is pushed and really it’s fake. Hopefully the WASC representatives will factor that into their report.”
The issue has already been acknowledged by the college. Occidental stated in its most recent CPR Report that, “based on Los Angeles County census data, the college is still falling below [enrollment] targets for Latinos and African-Americans in its effort to represent the city as a microcosm of its total population.”
Another issue discussed during the meeting was therelationship between students and administration. “The school makes a lot of claims that they don’t follow up on, and students are frustrated,” Hernandez said.
Students stated that they felt that the administration does not consult the student body before making major decisions. ASOC Senator Jessie Durett (first-year) cited the abrupt cancellation of President Veitch’s office hours and the fact that the administration did not consult students before renovating the Rush Gym as evidence of a disconnect between the administration and students.
“We have really great academics, but [the administration] thinks they can get by while silencing the students [who] still paying tuition. If 100 people dropped out, maybe they’d care,” said Charlotte Krovoza (first-year).
Students gave their input with the intention of eliciting a greater response from the administration about their concerns. “My hope is that those frustrated tones can be translated towards a process of addressing them and not just voicing them,” said Durrett. “I would like to see change by the end of this year.”
These issues will be discussed in WASC’s final report which it will send to the administration upon completion of the study. The report will help shape the third and final stage of the process, the Educational Effectiveness Review, which focuses on student and organizational learning outcomes.
Anyone with additional concerns that they would like to share with WASC should write to WASC2oc@yahoo.com. This is a confidential email for students, faculty, and staff who either were not able to attend or did not feel comfortable during the forums to share their opinions, concerns, and suggestions with the WASC team.
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