On September 24, Dean of Students Ann Quinley distributed a mass e-mail in which she explained that Pomona College would be undergoing a review by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

In the e-mail, Quinley stated, "During this academic year Pomona College will be undergoing a review for reaffirmation of its accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)–a process required for any institution in which students utilize federal financial aid programs."

Vice President of Planning Richard Fass added, "Accreditation is done by private, regional accreditation agencies… and they themselves have to be certified to do it by… the Department of Education."

According to Quinley, the college must submit a self-study report on a theme chosen by WASC, out of a variety of options submitted by the college. Quinley said, "Over the summer… Richard Fass talked with WASC over what the subject [of the report] would be."

"This is an entirely new format for self-studies," said Fass, "This format asks you to have the whole self-study to be kind of a story." The idea behind the self-study, explained Fass, was to measure a college’s accountability, or how well the faculty and administration interacts with the college’s students.

The theme that was agreed upon was Pomona’s position as a residential learning community and how this affects the students and the faculty members involved here.

According to the self-study, which is currently under review before becoming official, Pomona College is described as "a place where faculty and students gather to learn from each other, with appropriate facilities and staff to support the process and a curriculum designed to structure and define it."

The study also added, "Pomona College is a community that empowers students to direct their own learning, to actively and critically engage in the teaching and the learning process, to collaborate in curriculum development and campus decision making, and to participate in campus, regional, and global activities."

A point that appears many times within the study is the numerous benefits that a liberal arts college has over larger universities. The study makes references to a recent volume of Distinctively American: The Residential Liberal Arts College (2000), written by former President of Reed College Steven Koblik, "Historically, he says that educators at large public universities have created ‘residential colleges’ or ‘honors colleges’ to try to emulate the values embodied in the liberal arts tradition. He explains that ‘whole new institutions, such as the University of California, Santa Cruz, were created in their [the liberal arts college’s] spirit in a university setting. The small schools continue to produce disproportionate shares of the country’s leaders — doctors, lawyers, teachers and professors, politicians and civil servants.’ And administrators."

In addition to submitting a self-study, a reaccredidation team from WASC will come to Pomona in late March for an on-site review. According to Quinley, the team will tour the campus and meet with students, administrators, and faculty members during their visit.

"They [the WASC team members] are people from other colleges [and] usually a president [of another college] leads it," said Quinley.

Quinley also mentioned that this visit will not interfere with the normal functions of college and therefore will not disrupt the lives of students.

Last time Pomona College was reaffirmed for accreditation, in 1992, the recommendations of the reviewing team lead to the creation of the PAC system. Fass believes that this time one of the main concerns of the visiting team will be Pomona’s method of self-evaluation. Fass explained, "I think what they will focus on is that it is not the habit of Pomona College to be very systematic in evaluating how we do. We rely on a more personal approach."

A copy of Pomona College’s self-study can be found online (if being accessed from on-campus) at http://wasc.pomona.edu, or copies are also available in the Office of Student Affairs.