NWCCU Site Visit FAQs
Willamette’s NWCCU Evaluation of Institutional Effectiveness site visit will take place on the Salem campus from Monday, October 5 through Wednesday, October 7, 2026. A subset of this team will visit PNCA in Portland the morning of Tuesday, October 6.
The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) is an accreditor of higher education institutions recognized by the United States Department of Education. NWCCU accredits public and private institutions of higher education throughout the United States and internationally. The accreditation process certifies that educational institutions meet NWCCU’s quality standards and eligibility criteria. You can read more about NWCCU and its Standards on their website.
Accreditation is our way of indicating to the Department of Education that we have met their requirements for institutions of higher education. Specifically, our accreditation ensures that Willamette can offer students access to federal and state funds (which support financial aid, research, and teaching), and that we can transfer credits between Willamette and other colleges and universities.
Our Peer Evaluation Team includes academic, institutional research, and student affairs leadership from other colleges and universities accredited by NWCCU. The team members are serving as peer evaluators on a voluntary basis. Each member has been assigned by NWCCU to review Willamette’s fulfillment of the NWCCU’s various Standards.
In August 2026, the University submitted an Evaluation of Institutional Effectiveness (EIE) Self-Study Report to the NWCCU. Members of the Peer Evaluation Team will visit campus to follow up on this written self-study through meetings with faculty, staff, students, trustees, and other University leadership. They will also review materials such as course syllabi, assessment reports, strategic planning materials, committee reports, and financial documents.
During the site visit, the Team has requested to meet with specific groups and campus community members to address questions arising from the report. Additionally, there will be three open campus fora—one for staff, one for faculty, and one for students—during the site visit. You can read more about these campus fora and our October site visit on our website. Whether you’re participating in a campus forum or a specific meeting, your role is to share information about your work, how it advances Willamette’s mission and Strategic Plan, and/or how it contributes to our students’ achievement and success. You should be prepared to speak honestly and openly about your experiences, as well as the University’s strengths and areas for improvement. If you don’t know the answer to a question, let them know. If you have specific examples to illustrate your experience, please share them!
The goal of this visit is to assess Willamette University in its current state—which includes our five academic units: the Atkinson School, the Pacific Northwest College of Art, Willamette College, Willamette Law, and the School of Computing and Information Sciences. As we pursue our merger with Pacific University, NWCCU will conduct a separate site visit related to the merger.
The Peer Evaluation Team will give a brief, oral presentation of their findings on the morning of Wednesday, October 7. This is a presentation only—there will not be opportunities for follow-up questions. In the weeks that follow, the Team will prepare a written report and send it to the University for review. As part of our review, we are allowed to correct errors of fact, and to prepare an institutional response that addresses any concerns or recommendations outlined in the Peer Evaluation Team’s report. These materials then are reviewed by the NWCCU Board of Commissioners in January, who will review these reports and determine Willamette’s accreditation status.
If you have questions about the accreditation process, the site visit, or your role in it, please contact Christine Shanaberger, Assistant Provost for Academic Planning and Institutional Effectiveness, at cshanabe@willamette.edu. We will also be hosting a series of open Q&A sessions in advance of the site visit; to learn more about these sessions and sign up, please visit our accreditation website.