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University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Accreditation Self-Study
Spring 2005
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Introduction
Preface


 
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In the 10 years since the University of Wisconsin– Milwaukee (UWM) was last reaccredited in 1995, higher education has experienced significant changes, notably including economic expansion and contraction; increasing expectations that graduates be prepared to participate in a diverse, globalized society; the simultaneous infusion of federal research dollars and stiffer competition among universities for these awards; decreasing state support nationally for public higher education; a greater reliance on information technology; and an increasing emphasis on assessment and accountability. While all of these trends are reflected in this Self-Study, a focus on assessment and accountability—on educational outputs (i.e., student learning outcomes and other evidence of institutional effectiveness) rather than inputs (i.e., human and physical resources, curriculum)—is what most differentiates this report from its predecessors.

The demand for accountability in educational institutions has been widely expressed by constituents including students, parents, board members, the general public, and state and federal legislators, and it has been felt across all educational levels. The currently proposed revision to the federal Higher Education Act, which would make accreditation reports more widely available to the public, is one example of the accountability trend in higher education. In the state of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin System has been publishing its own annual Accountability Report since 1993, tracking key indicators of success such as student retention and satisfaction across all of its campuses.

 
 
UWM’s accrediting body, the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), has also embraced outcomes assessment. The NCA’s criteria for accreditation were revised in 2003, resulting in the following fundamental shifts1:
 
 

From inputs and resources to results, outcomes, performance;

From teaching to teaching and learning, intended broadly for students and employees;

From autonomy to connection and interdependence;

From a look backwards to a future focus; and

From uniformity/stratification to distinctiveness, flexibility, and differentiation.
 
 
The concept of stewardship underpins both the new NCA criteria and other calls for educational accountability. The parameters of UWM’s stewardship (defined as the University’s effective use of resources to achieve societally beneficial ends) are set forth in our mission documents and are fully elaborated in Chapter III, “Mission and Integrity.” As a consequence of the University’s distinctive mission, the interpretation of the accreditation criteria and the examples of evidence used to support reaccreditation reflect UWM’s position in the UW System, in Milwaukee, in the state, and in national and international arenas as a major public research university.
 

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Footnotes:

1.
 
Source: Delving into the New Criteria, NCA Annual Meeting presentation, available at http://www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org/restructuringNewCriteriaRegWkshopRev.ppt#2
 



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