Silence broken:

Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2002 12:25:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Chancellor's Office"
To: "Berkeley Students"
Subject: UC Berkeley accreditation renewal


Dear Students:


On October 30 and 31, the campus will host the first of two site visits by
an external team of evaluators in conjunction with the renewal of our
accreditation, which occurs every ten years. The Western Association of
Schools and Colleges (WASC) has radically redesigned the accreditation
process to allow member institutions to engage in meaningful work on their
campus priorities.


We have chosen to use the accreditation process to improve the quality of
undergraduate education. Under the leadership of Professor Christina
Maslach, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, we are using the process
to focus on three topics, proposed by the campus and endorsed by WASC.
These are Enhancing Academic Engagement at a Large Public Research
Institution, Re-thinking the Delivery of Education, and Improving
Undergraduate Program Review.


This summer, we completed our Preparatory Review Report, reaffirming our
commitment to functioning with clear educational purposes, institutional
integrity and fiscal stability, and setting the stage for the upcoming site
visit. The Preparatory Review also lays the foundation for the final site
visit of an expanded team of external evaluators in Fall 2003. At that
time, the results of the study of our three topics will be examined.


I invite you to participate in this important project by viewing the
campus's Preparatory Review Report at the accreditation website
http://education.berkeley.edu/accreditation/index.html and by sending
comments and suggestions to accreditation@uclink.berkeley.edu.


Sincerely,



Robert M. Berdahl
Chancellor

{end radio transmission}