Dear Faculty Colleagues,
We are writing to you with some great news, ISU received the Northwest Commission for Colleges and Universities’ (NWCCU) Year 7 Institutional Effectiveness accreditation affirmation letter last week. The Academic Affairs team would like to thank you for the hard work and effort it took to achieve this very successful outcome. This affirmation letter reflects ISU’s continuous improvement and the two commendations and recommendations we received reflect seven years of hard work supporting institutional effectiveness, student learning, and achievement.
Listed below are the commendations and recommendations we received in our 2021 Seven-Year Report. The commendations are important achievements, and the recommendations are minor when compared to those identified in the previous accreditation cycle. The University will address the recommendations in the Fall 2024 mid-cycle review.
The Commission commends Idaho State University for:
- The work of the current administration to effectively and transparently communicate information to all campus constituents.
- Fostering an inviting, inclusive, and student-centric culture in which members of the campus community feel valued, seen, and heard.
The Commission recommends that Idaho State University:
- Recommendation 1: Fall 2021 Evaluation of Institutional Effectiveness - Consistently disaggregate all indicators for student achievement by every category. (2020 Standard 1.D.2)
- Recommendation 2: Fall 2021 Evaluation of Institutional Effectiveness - Transition to a more aspirational strategic plan, that articulates one clear set of meaningful goals, objectives, and indicators to define mission fulfillment. (2020 Standard 1.B.2)
One last note, Darren Blagburn, Director of Operations and Planning for Academic Affairs, has been selected for an NWCCU Mission Fulfillment fellowship to begin in March (Congratulations, Darren!). ISU currently measures the mission fulfillment of our student achievement through the use of quantitative measures only. Utilizing a mixed methods approach may provide the University with a more robust means of assessing student achievement. We will be reaching out to faculty and staff throughout the University to develop these new measures over the next several months.
Today, we join ISU’s faculty and staff in celebrating our achievements!
––Academic Affairs Team
