The WASC visiting team is as follows:

• Paul L. Gaston, Trustees Professor, Kent State University, Chair

• Nalsey B. Tinberg, Professor of Mathematics, Occidental College, Assistant Chair/Editor

• Desdemona Cardoza, Provost, CSU, Los Angeles

• Cecile Lindsay, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, CSU, Long Beach

• Dennis D. Muraoka, Interim Associate Provost, CSU, Channel Islands

• Terry M. Wildman, Director, Center for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, Virginia Polytechnic Institute

To communicate directly to the WASC team, email wasc2ssu@yahoo.com (this is a secure location to which only authorized WASC team members have access)

For additional questions, email Barbara Butler, WASC Accreditation Liaison Officer for Elaine Sundberg, at barbara.butler@sonoma.edu

WASC Site Visit and Comments

Sonoma State University is hosting a site visit in connection with its reaccreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) from Wed., Oct. 7 to Fri., Oct. 9, 2009.

The visiting team typically schedules one or more open meetings with students, staff, and faculty to provide an opportunity for informal input from the campus community. Understanding that not everyone who may wish to participate can attend these meetings, the WASC team is hosting a confidential email site so that persons from the institutional community can communicate with the team regarding their experience with the institution. The comments are sent directly to the team chair and are not viewed by any representative of the institution.

The team is particularly interested in hearing from students enrolled in distance education courses and programs and from students at off-campus sites because these students are not usually able to attend open meetings at the campus.

Students who wish to send a message to the team are encouraged to comment on issues of academic rigor and consistency, availability of student support services, and other matters related to the quality of the educational experience.

Institutional reports, on-campus interviews, open sessions, and email responses received become part of the information collected and reviewed by the team. Team members will not respond individually to comments provided through any of these venues, including those made through the confidential email account. This input, along with other forms of information, will be considered as the team undertakes its work and develops recommendations to the institution. Only comments received prior to and during the site visit dates will be considered as part of the review process.

To communicate to the WASC team, email wasc2ssu@yahoo.com. This email address is a secure location to which only authorized WASC team members have access. Students, faculty, and staff may communicate directly to the team via this email address that has been created by WASC for this use only. The site will be terminated at the end of the visit. The team will have private access to this information through the use of a password as provided by WASC staff.

Further questions may be directed to Barbara Butler, WASC Accreditation Liaison Officer for Elaine Sundberg, at barbara.butler@sonoma.edu.