WASC BRIEF
OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL
EFFECTIVENESS
WASC Steering
Committee:
Joy Asamen, Ph.D.
GSEP, Committee Chair
Cyndia Clegg, Ph.D.
Seaver College
Peggy Crawford, Ph.D.
GSBM
Mark Scarberry, J.D.
School of Law
Michael Shires, Ph.D.
School of Public Policy
Connie Fulmer, Ph.D.
Associate Dean of
Seaver College
Anne Arvin
Associate Registrar
Connie Horton, Ph.D.
Director of Counseling Center
Lynne Jacobsen
Libraries
Darryl Tippens, Ph.D.
Provost, Accreditation
Liaison Officer
Tim Chester, Ph.D.
Vice Provost for Academic
Administration
Jay Brewster, Ph.D.
Associate Provost
Christopher S. Collins, Ph.D.
Assistant Provost,
Institutional Effectiveness
Issue 1: An Update on Pepperdine’s Accreditation
WASC Overview
Pepperdine University has begun a season of accreditation reaffirmation with
the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). While the workload
is great, we hope that it will be a time of reflection on our processes and intent to
provide the best educational experience possible. This WASC Brief is intended to
provide an overview of where we are in the process as well as what will come next
in the process. In December 2008, Pepperdine’s Institutional Proposal was accept-
ed while Nancy Magnusson Durham was the WASC Accreditation Liaison. Since
Nancy’s departure, Provost Darryl Tippens has assumed this role. As we ardently
prepare for the up and coming due dates, we are truly thankful for all of those who
have participated in the various surveys about student learning and campus cli-
mate, as well as the development of our Institutional Educational Objectives. The
Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE) will produce two to three WASC Briefs a
year to provide an update on the developments.
This Brief includes several sections, includ-
ing an overview of our Institutional Education In this Issue:
Objectives formation process, the Capacity and
Preparatory Review (CPR) essay themes, and WASC Overview, 1
other pertinent information. A key element
of the CPR is for the university to write what Institutional Educational
WASC refers to as “reflective essays” on issues of Objectives (IEOs), 2
importance to the institution. We have elected
to address six content areas: (a) mission and WASC CPR Essay Themes, 3
institutional educational goals/purpose, (b)
program review, (c) high impact educational WASC Terminology, 4
activities, (d) faculty engagement, (e) assess-
ment evidence and decision-making, and (f) Update on the Office of
the data portfolio. WASC Steering Committee Institutional Effectiveness, 4
Chair, Joy Asamen will be leading the writing
effort for the CPR report.
Accreditation Report and Visit Timeline
June 30, 2010 – Capacity and Preparatory Review (CPR) Report Due
September 22-24, 2010 – Capacity and Preparatory Review Site Visit
December 21, 2011 – Educational Effectiveness Report (EER) Due
March 14-16, 2012 – Educational Effectiveness Site Visit
For more information, please look at the web sites: www.wascsenior.org and
http://www.pepperdine.edu/institutional-effectiveness.
1
Institutional Educational Objectives (IEOs)

Pepperdine’s IEOs have been under development for several months. The purpose is to facilitate coherence among
the University Mission, Strategic Plan, and Learning Outcomes. WASC Standard 1, “Defining Institutional Pur-
poses and Ensuring Educational Objectives” is evaluated by the following guidelines:

The institution defines its purposes and establishes educational objectives aligned with its purposes and
character. It has a clear and conscious sense of its essential values and character, its distinctive elements, its
place in the higher educational community and its relationship to society at large. Through its purposes
and educational objectives, the institution dedicates itself to higher learning, the search for truth, and the
dissemination of knowledge. The institution functions with integrity and autonomy.

The IEOs for Pepperdine are currently under review and available for comment on a Pepperdine wiki. The follow-
ing describes the elements of the IEOs:

Mission Statement: Pepperdine University is a Christian university committed to the highest standards of academic
excellence and Christian values, where students are strengthened for lives of purpose, service, and leadership.

The Institutional Educational Objectives are formed by two components:

1) Core commitments: knowledge and scholarship, faith and heritage, and community and global understanding
2) Institutional values: purpose, service, and leadership

Each commitment is evaluated and implemented through the lens of the institutional values. All components are
represented in both the learning environment and the student learning outcomes.

For more information about the process, or to comment on the development of the IEOs, an e-mail can be sent to
wasc@pepperdine.edu or call the Office of Institutional Effectiveness at 310.506.6629.

2
Preparing for the Capacity and
Preparatory Review
- Joy Asamen, WASC Committee Chair
Step 2 of the WASC reaccreditation process is the
Capacity and Preparatory Review (CPR). For this
phase of the process, we are required to examine our
processes and procedures to ensure that the university
maintains the capacity to deliver effective educational
programs that are congruent with the mission of
the institution. A key element of the CPR is for the
university to write what WASC refers to as “reflective
essays” on issues of importance to the institution. We
have elected to address six content areas: (a) mis-
sion and institutional educational goals/purpose, (b)
program review, (c) high impact educational activi-
ties, (d) faculty engagement, (e) assessment evidence
and decision-making, and (f) the data portfolio. The
following is a brief overview for each of these areas of
emphasis.
Essay One: Mission and Institutional Educational
Goals/Purpose
One of the observations made by WASC at the time of
our last site visit in 2000 was that Pepperdine’s Chris-
tian mission did not appear to have a uniform influ-
ence on planning and program development across
the university. Hence, the content of this particular
essay will focus on the increased coherence, across the
university, in deepening the intersection of the uni-
versity’s faith-based mission and academic programs.
In addressing this issue, alignment between the
institutional education objectives, university strate-
gic plan, school educational objectives, and program
student learning objectives will be examined, and the
plan for further improving institutional coherence
will be discussed.
Essay Two: Program Review
Although Pepperdine has instituted a formal program
review process (both curricular and co-curricular),
the process has not functioned beyond serving as
a repository for 5-year and annual program review
reports. Best practices dictate that a valid program
review process should include a systematic examina-
tion by reviewers external to the program so an objec-
tive assessment of strengths and needs are identi-
fied. Furthermore, the evidence generated from the
program reviews is to serve as the basis for planning
and making budgetary decisions on ways to improve
student learning. This essay will identify needs for
improving the program review infrastructure, the
steps already taken, and further plans for addressing
these needs.
Essay Three: High Impact Educational Activities
In WASC’s 2008 response to Pepperdine’s Institu-
tional Proposal, it was suggested that the university
consider focusing on increasing student participation
in high impact educational opportunities. Given the
introduction of more high impact educational experi-
ences would benefit both students of undergraduate
and graduate/professional programs, the third essay
will focus on the resources, structures, and processes
required for supporting more high impact education-
al activities.
Essay Four: Faculty Engagement
WASC places high import on the degree to which
faculty members are involved in the assessment of
student learning and academic decision-making. It
was stressed at the time of the 2000 site visit that
Pepperdine continue to improve its structures for
engaging faculty on issues regarding the development
and review of academic programs and policies. This
essay will address ways in which faculty members are
involved in these said decisions as well as plans for
further improving faculty participation in institution-
al decision-making.
Essay Five: Assessment Evidence and
Decision-making
WASC places significant weight on the utilization of
evidence-based decision-making practices; hence, the
fifth essay will focus on Pepperdine’s use of assess-
ment evidence for academic planning and budgeting
decisions as well as the plan for broadening the uni-
versity’s use of evidence for making these decisions.
Essay Six: Institutional Data Portfolio
A data portfolio is required for the CPR and will be
the focus of the sixth and final essay. The exhibits
that compose the portfolio offer demographic profiles
of students, faculty, and staff; data on student admis-
sions, enrollment, and retention/degrees awarded;
fiscal resources and institutional operations/effi-
ciency; and information on educational effectiveness
indicators. Demographic profiles and educational
effectiveness indicators will be compared to peer and
aspirational institutions. The ability to disaggregate
data by gender and race/ethnicity will allow discus-
sion of diversity considerations.
3
WASC Terminology

WASC - Western Association of Schools and Colleges
One of six official academic bodies in the United States that
is responsible for the accreditation of Pepperdine University.
It is the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and
Universities responsible for the evaluation of the quality and
effectiveness of colleges and universities offering baccalaure-
ate degrees and above.
ALO - Accreditation Liaison Officer
The University employee working with the WASC Commis-
sion on matters of accreditation. Provost Darryl Tippens is
Pepperdine’s ALO.
IP - Institutional Proposal
The initial stage of the accreditation review cycle completed
in 2008, which guides the entire accreditation review pro-
cess. It establishes a framework for connecting each institu-
tion’s context and priorities with the Standards of Accredi-
tation for the accreditation review. The WASC Proposal
Review Committee accepted this report and offered recom-
mendations for strengthening our efforts during the process.
CPR - Capacity and Preparatory Review
The second stage designed to enable the Commission to
determine whether an institution fulfills the Core Commit-
ment to Institutional Capacity. Pepperdine will show that
our institution functions with a clear educational purpose
reflective of its mission, has fiscal stability, and operates
with integrity and autonomy of influence that may interfere
with the educational function.
EER - Educational Effectiveness Review
The third stage intended to be aligned with the CPR.
This involves Pepperdine’s thorough analysis on the
extent to which it fulfills its educational objectives
regarding what students learn by regularly reviewing
the appropriateness of IEOs, school education goals,
and program learning outcomes. It also includes
collecting and using data to identify areas in which
student learning can be improved.
PR - Program Review
The process of systematic examination to determine
if students are attaining what the program aspires
for students to learn. The PR process should include
the collection and analysis of student work, a plan for
addressing any areas in which student learning can be
improved, an external review, and other relevant data
outlined in Pepperdine’s Program Review Guidebook.
CFR - Criteria for Review
The specific sub-sections of each of the four Stan-
dards of Accreditation. The CFR provide a more
detailed explanation of each standard and are meant
to support basic decisions about accreditation and to
enable the Commission to render an effective judg-
ment on the performance of an institution.
IEO - Institutional Educational Objectives
The goals specified at the institutional level that con-
nect purpose, character, and educational objectives.

OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS OIE CONTACTS

MISSION STATEMENT:
Christopher S. Collins, Ph.D.
The Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE) is a research engine de- Assistant Provost for Assessment and
signed to advance the mission and values of Pepperdine University by Institutional Effectiveness
facilitating evidence-based decisions and a culture of assessment. (310) 506-4393

The mission will be achieved through: M. Teresa Taningco Kaldor, Ph.D.

Director of Educational Research
-Functioning as a semi-independent research group and think tank (310) 506-4375

-Collecting, analyzing, and distributing high quality research Lily Pang

Director of Institutional Research
-Coordinating a comprehensive system of Program Reviews that contrib- (310) 506-4130
ute to the mission and strategic goals of the University and all five schools
Maggie Samuel
-Providing guidance and data support for the University assessment cycle, Office Manager/ Data Analyst
Institutional Educational Objectives, and learning outcomes (310) 506-6629

-Guiding and facilitating the process of reaffirmation of Dianne Asis

accreditation Lead Application Developer
(310) 506-7409
4