Accreditation

From: Campus Administrative Manual 400-402 "Accreditation" (revised July 1982).

It is the policy of the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, to seek accreditation from appropriate accreditation agencies subject to the following criteria:

A. The agency must be recognized by the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation.

B. The accreditation sought must be shown to be of significant value to the university and to the department or school involved in terms of the opportunities available to graduates as well as the prestige to be gained through such recognition.

C. Neither the objectives nor methods of instruction of the university nor those of the department or school involved must be changed significantly in order to meet requirements of the agency.

 

Responsibility is delegated to the operating unit head, e.g., department head or school dean, for:

A. Preliminary contact with the accrediting agency.

B. Initial appraisal of desirability of seeking such accreditation and probability of success.

C. Recommendation whether or not to make formal application for accreditation.

D. Preparation of a statement in regard to the availability of appropriate and adequate funds for financing the total costs of accreditation, including application fees, travel expenses of visitation teams, etc. The statement is to be attached to the recommendation by the dean of the school in which the program under consideration is located.

E. Preparation of application and related reports.

F. Transmittal to the accreditation agency of the application and reports only after approval by the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the University President.

G. Details and arrangements for the committee visitation on campus.

 

The following approvals are required and are to be processed through the school dean, Vice President for Academic Affairs, and University President:

A. Transmittal of formal application for accreditation

B. Contents of required reports and their transmittal to accreditation agency

C. Dates of committee visitation

D. Planned procedure for meeting of visitation committee with the University President and other administrative personnel

 

The school dean, Vice President for Academic Affairs, and University President are to be kept informed of actions taken with respect to the accreditation process.

 

The above procedural steps also shall be followed in developing departmental or school applications for reaccreditation or in preparing and submitting required responses or reports in cases where provisional accreditation is being reconsidered by the accrediting agency.

 

From Academic Senate Resolution AS-496-98/PRAIC "Resolution on External Review" (approved 18 September 1998).

All degree programs, in consultation with their college dean, will either undergo accreditation review if there is a suitable accrediting body, or will undergo external review following guidelines for external review, as specified by AS-497-98/PRAIC.

The timing of external review will be coordinated with the Academic Senate Program Review & Improvement Committee to minimize the workload of the program faculty in preparing for review.

The results of specialized accreditation review or external review will be communicated to the program faculty, the college dean, the Academic Senate Program Review & Improvement Committee, and to the President or his/her designee.

Program faculty will have an opportunity to respond in writing to all findings and recommendations raised during the review process.

The President or his/her designee will report to the program, the program faculty, the college dean, and to the Academic Senate Program Review & Improvement Committee within six months regarding recommendations made to the program during the review process.

 

Reference:

Cal Poly Catalog: "Accreditation".

Updated: 6/27/2025