UC Merced Accreditation
UC Merced has been granted Candidacy by our regional accreditation association, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). We are now working to fulfill the requirements for Initial Accreditation and specifically are preparing for the Capacity and Preparatory Review Site Visit on September 29 - October 1, 2009. The Site Visit Schedule can be viewed here.
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 e-mail 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.
Staff members 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 e-mail 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 e-mail 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 (Sept. 29-Oct. 1) will be considered as part of the review process.
To communicate to the WASC team, please address your e-mail to:
This e-mail 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 e-mail 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.