Dear Colleagues,

The start of the academic year 2024-25 coincides with the kick-off to our campus reaccreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

Accreditation is a process aimed at ensuring educational institutions meet basic standards of quality and engage with issues of educational effectiveness. Accreditation by one of the regional accreditation commissions also ensures access to federal funds, such as student aid.

UCR has been accredited since 1956, and while reaccreditation typically occurs on a ten-year cycle, our most recent accreditation had a shortened terminal date and included a special visit in 2022. The current full review will be completed in 2026, following an on-site visit. More details about the accreditation process can be found at UCR’s WASC Reaccreditation website.

Every unit of UCR, including CHASS, is responsible for contributing data, policy and procedures, and narrative prose on various WASC standards. Like most units of campus, a workgroup designated by the unit head (in our case, me in my role as Dean) will be tasked with gathering together the relevant information, metrics, and analysis.

While the technical aspects of the report can be generated in the Office of the Dean, we need the workgroup to offer critical perspective and analysis. 

Your role in the accreditation is significant, and I ask for your help in supporting the workgroup so that it can meet its assignments in a timely manner. My goal is to have a workgroup that is lean in numbers but representative of various voices. I solicit self-nominations from CHASS faculty and staff to join the workgroup. If the opportunity interests you, please send your name to Summer Espinoza by Wednesday, October 23.

In the spirit of shared governance, I intend to confer with the CHASS Faculty Executive Committee on the slate of workgroup members — appointees of the dean and self-nominees — at the end of October. Supplemental nominations directly from the FEC are welcome. By early November, the workgroup will receive its charge. 

The workgroup will complete its preliminary assignments by early January 2025, when I’ll convene a town hall for an open discussion of working conclusions.

In a short time, you will find a special subpage of the CHASS website that names the workgroup members and briefly describes the work and timeline. The site will later include draft versions of the report due to the campus accreditation lead no later than January 31, 2025.

Many thanks for your interest and participation in this important process.

Daryle Williams
Professor of History and Dean
College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences