The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) recently reaffirmed the accreditation of Wor-Wic Community College after a rigorous process that examined the college’s practices, ethics and outcomes to ensure that Wor-Wic meets its comprehensive accreditation standards.
“Our accreditation reaffirmation is not merely a milestone — it’s a moment of triumph, built on years of collaboration, integrity and hard work,” said Deborah Casey, Ph.D., president of Wor-Wic. “This achievement reflects our shared dedication to academic excellence, student success and the mission that has guided us since our initial accreditation in 1980. The reaffirmation of our accreditation ensures our students can continue to pursue their educational goals with confidence and pride in the value of a Wor-Wic degree.”
The accreditation process takes place every 10 years through MSCHE, an independent accreditor recognized by the U.S. Department of Education that establishes equitable standards for accreditation with member institutions. As an institutional accreditor, MSCHE requires evaluation of all aspects of the institution, including all academic programs and services.
As part of the accreditation process, Wor-Wic completed an institutional self-study report evaluating its educational programs and services, with particular attention to student learning and achievement, and determined how well these programs and services accomplished its goals, fulfilled its mission and met MSCHE standards. The standards include: mission and goals; ethics and integrity; design and delivery of the student learning experience; support of the student experience; educational effectiveness assessment, planning, resources and institutional improvement; and governance, leadership and administration.
In its final report, the peer evaluation team commended Wor-Wic for several highlights:
- Building a stronger campus community through its diversity planning committee
- Revising its general education outcomes through campus-wide collaboration and establishing a committee to address its general education outcome plans
- Designing classroom spaces for specific learning goals
- Designing easier access to financial aid information, advising and resources
- Demonstrating comprehensive implementation of the assessment process and embedding assessment into its culture
- Fiscal responsibility demonstrated through a history of unmodified audits, a strong budgeting process tied to strategic planning and assessment and the offsetting of high energy costs through its use of solar power.
“The classrooms designed for technology courses, medical training and other areas of academic work, including general education offerings, are impressive,” the report said.