Index to the Location of Evidence Relating to the Commission’s Criteria for Accreditation Found in Missouri Western State University’s Systems Portfolio

Criterion Five – Engagement and Service. As called for by its mission, the organization identifies its constituencies and serves them in ways both value.

Core Component 5a. The organization learns from the constituencies it serves and analyzes its capacity to serve their needs and expectations.

• Everything Western does is shaped by its mission and its capacity to support the commitments of that mission. The institution identifies and implements AQIP Action Projects from its strategic priorities for applied learning, student engagement, and communicating quality. Western realizes that accomplishing its vision, mission, and purpose depends completely upon the people of the institution. Leadership sets directions through strategic planning that are conducive to high performance, individual development, and innovation (Overview, 3C1, 3P3, Category 2, 5C2-5C3, 5P1, Category Eight).
• Western uses environmental scanning to understand its constituents and their changing needs. Advisory councils help with employment issues and to identify the outcomes required to increase area businesses’ productivity. Western relies on several stakeholder segments to provide input regarding community and regional needs, internships and service opportunities, and needs within the job market (3P3, 3P5, Figure 3.5, 8C1-8C2, 8P4, 8P6).
• Community partnerships offer Western the opportunity to learn and to lead while contributing to the good of the greater community. Western responds to community-identified needs, opportunities, and goals through actions that are appropriate to the mission and strength of the institution (Figure 9.2, 9P1-9P2).
  

Core Component 5b. The organization has the capacity and the commitment to engage with its identified constituencies and communities.

• Western develops collaborative relationships with many organizations, agencies, businesses, and community groups in order to accomplish its mission. Western integrates its goals with the community and regional goals, and works with private and public agencies to enhance the lives of people in the region. Western envisions itself as setting the standard for community leadership (Overview, Figure 9.2, 9C1, 9P1).
• Western’s planning processes focus on the critical areas of student engagement, applied learning, communicating quality, information technology, planning and budgeting, facilities and grounds, and community service, community partnerships, and workforce development. Western publishes and distributes widely an Annual Progress Report on the Strategic Plan (Category Two, Category Eight).
  

Core Component 5c. The organization demonstrates its responsiveness to those
constituencies that depend on it for service.

• Western participates in partnerships focused on articulation, public education, business, higher education, government, accreditation, community, consortia, and national entities. Accreditation partners, for example, include the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, the American Bar Association, the American Chemical Society, the American Health Information Management Association, the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the Council on Social Work Education, the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Science, the National Association of Schools of Music, and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. Western has been accredited by the North Central Association since 1919 (O1, Figure 9.2).
• Missouri’s two-and four-year public institutions share a general studies structure of 42 credit hours for transfer purposes. The Missouri Department of Higher Education oversees policy and best practices in transfer (O1).

Core Component 5d. Internal and external constituencies value the services the organization provides.

• Western interacts with its stakeholders in ways that enhance the institution’s involvement in planning and solving regional education and training needs. For example, faculty and students interact with area businesses in several community settings through applied learning activities such as internships and practical. When a meat processing plan in St. Joseph was anticipated to draw many employees whose primary language is Spanish, the Western Institute responded by developing Spanish courses to enhance communication between the employees and area businesses such as healthcare, banking, law enforcement, and education (3P3-3P4).
• Western provides graduates in Nursing to the regional hospital, graduates of the Western Law Enforcement Academy to local law enforcement agencies, and graduates of Education to regional schools (9R1).
• Western has focused effort and resources on educating the Missouri legislative and executive branches about Western’s and higher education’s contribution to the State of Missouri (3R3-3R4).
• Western uses a variety of measures to assess the effectiveness of relationships and the collaborative work that is tied to these relationships (9P4, 9R2).
• Western plays a key role in all major initiatives in the region, such as development of the life sciences industry, the lifelong learning initiative, workforce development, and regional planning (9R1).