Northwest Nazarene University was the first Nazarene institution of higher education to receive regional accreditation and has been accredited by NWCCU, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, for nearly 70 continuous years. NWCCU requires an interim report every five years, and a major report every ten years.

The NWCCU process is based on nine standards which attempt to articulate key elements of quality and purpose in higher education.

• ONE: Institutional Mission and Goals, Planning and Effectiveness
• TWO: Educational Program and Its Effectiveness
• THREE: Students
• FOUR: Faculty
• FIVE: Library and Information Resources
• SIX: Governance and Administration
• SEVEN: Finance
• EIGHT: Physical Resources
• NINE: Institutional Integrity

NNU's last major report was in 1996, and our last interim report was in 2001. NNU also had a focused report regarding faculty evaluation, in 1999.

It is typical for busy University personnel to see the accreditation process as a regular but brief interruption of the primary work of the University. Used proactively and effectively, the opposite is true: the accreditation process serves the University by assisting it in evaluating the efficacy of the relationship between its stated University mission and goals, and the programs and services which implement these.

In this spirit, the upcoming institutional self-study and subsequent visit will interact with a revised student learning assessment and academic strategic planning process to accomplish three institutional purposes:

First, in the lead up to the self-study and visit, they will affirm the two just-mentioned institutional mandates:

• by providing additional reasons to implement an institutionally essential student learning assessment plan, and
• by providing a resource and an outlet for a planned academic strategic planning process

Second, they will allow NNU to continue the traditional review of its progress on accomplishing its mission as articulated through NWCCU standards, and

Finally, they will provide a structure for the reconceptualization of the accreditation process as an integral part of the internal institutional commitment to accomplishment of mission and student learning.

Click here (pdf) to read an accreditation overview.