SECTION II - Evaluation for Continued Accreditation The General Institutional
Requirements
A complete description of how UW-River Falls meets the GIRs is contained in
pages 159-168 of the Self-Study Report. Appropriate documents were available
to the Team prior to and/or during the visit to confirm statements. The Team
is confident that UW-River Falls meets the GIRs.
The Criteria for Accreditation
UW-River Falls' Self-Study Report documents patterns of evidence which, they
believe, show that their University meets each of the five Criteria for Accreditation.
The Report articulates their case sufficiently and effectively. After evaluation
of the Report and conducting the visit, the members of the Team were unanimous
in their view that UW-River Falls does meet the five criteria.
What follows is a summarization of selected evidence, and observations, many
evaluative and some critical, which are intended to reinforce good practice,
affirm good performance, and/or stimulate further self-analysis and change.
It is through these comments that the Team and the NCA become a partner in the
continuous efforts toward self-improvement at UW-River Falls.
Criterion One - The institution has clear and publicly stated purposes
consistent with its mission and appropriate to an institution of higher education.
The University of Wisconsin-River Falls operates under three mission statements,
all of which receive careful review and are approved by the University of Wisconsin
-Board of Regents. These missions include one for the UW system, a second for
the comprehensive institutions like UW-River Falls within the system, and finally
the UW-River Falls Select Mission. The mission statements reflect a commitment
to excellence in education and freedom of inquiry. All three mission statements
are included in appropriate UW-River Falls publications.
Evidence suggests that UW-River Falls constituents fully understand the mission
and have appropriate mechanisms in place to evaluate institutional goals. For
example, the mission and accompanying goals served as the foundation of the
Reach for the Future strategic planning process. The broad-based involvement
of all stakeholders in this planning effort and the resulting strategic goals
provide good evidence that UW-River Falls has an understanding of mission and
purposes. The relationship of academic departments to the university mission
is further articulated and strengthened as departments, through the Academic
Planning and Outcomes Review (APOR) process, provide annual reports of activities
in conjunction with departmental missions and goals.
While non-academic units have not participated as much in a comparable planning
and outcomes review process, they have been engaged in the strategic planning
process. A non-academic process similar to APOR is being developed. It promises
to provide additional opportunities for systematic review of the goals. Nonetheless,
non-academic units appear to have a clear understanding of institutional mission
and the roles they play in support of that mission.
The team finds that UW-River Falls meets Criterion One.