NCHEMS was hired by the Seattle Colleges District to evaluate the internal and external pros and cons of moving to a single accredited system.
NCHEMS was hired by the Seattle Colleges District to evaluate the internal and external pros and cons of moving to a single accredited system.
Seattle Colleges District consists of three colleges: South Seattle College, North Seattle College, and Seattle Central College. The district is governed by a five-member Board of Trustees that supervises a district chancellor as the CEO. Each college is separately accredited, resulting in separate curriculums, assessment procedures, admission, and learning outcomes.
NCHEMS has held numerous conversations with the Assessment Task Force and stakeholders, administered an online survey to stakeholders, facilitated focus groups, and interviewed leaders of two college systems that went through consolidation. NCHEMS also compiled comparative performance and structure analysis from four other colleges and districts in the area. The report on pros and cons of single accreditation will emphasize findings that are related to student experience and student success, organizational sustainability, and issues that need to be addressed if separate accreditation is maintained and if a single accreditation is sought.
NCHEMS produced summaries of the major findings from the assessment activities, developed a report, and prepared a presentation to the Board of Trustees.