Oregon State University will host a site visit by an evaluation team from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities next week as part of renewing its accreditation by the NWCCU. The site visit will be at OSU-Cascades April 7 and at the Corvallis campus April 8-10.
At OSU-Cascades, community events include:
- Meeting for Faculty at large: 9:30 a.m., Ray Hall 011-013
- Meeting for Staff at large: 10:20 a.m., Ray Hall 011-013
- Student lunch: 11:15 a.m., SSC Conference Room
The NWCCU peer evaluation team will host three forums and a final Exit Meeting in Corvallis:
- Faculty: 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 8, LinC 100.
- Students: 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 8, LinC 228. A Zoom forum exclusively for Ecampus students will follow at 4 p.m.
- Classified staff and professional faculty: 9 a.m. Thursday, April 9, Construction and Engineering Hall, The LaSells Stewart Center.
- Exit Meeting: 10:30 a.m. Friday, April 10, Detrick Hall at PRAx. Faculty, staff, students and the public are invited.
“Accreditation is a rigorous process to assess the effectiveness of Oregon State programs, policies and practices,” said Alix Gitelman, senior vice provost of academic affairs and accreditation liaison officer. “It provides assurance that OSU meets standards for student learning and mission fulfillment and instills confidence in the quality of an Oregon State University degree.”
Gitelman said the accreditation renewal process incorporates the university’s practice of continuous assessment and improvement. Examples include the new Core Education program, annual assessment of academic program learning outcomes for undergraduate and graduate majors, work toward the “every student graduates” goal in the Prosperity Widely Shared strategic plan and a major restructuring of academic advising.
Accreditation also qualifies students for federal and state financial aid, maintains compliance with federal and state requirements and facilitates credit transfers between OSU and other accredited institutions.
Oregon State has been continuously accredited since 1924. The university’s accreditation is renewed on a seven-year cycle and was last affirmed in 2019. As part of the renewal process, OSU submitted two reports, the Policies, Regulations and Finances Review in February 2025, and the Evaluation of Institutional Effectiveness in February 2026. Summaries of the reports and a 2-page Executive Summary are also available.
More information, including FAQs and a link to the Student Achievement and Mission Fulfillment Dashboard, is available on the University Accreditation website.
Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made by April 1 to Caryn Stoess, 541-737-2804, or [email protected].
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