The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) fosters through its accreditation standards, policies, and eligibility standards a process of continuous quality improvement centered around student success and the fulfillment of each member institution’s unique mission. NWCCU’s unique accreditation model allowing institutions to define their mission; core themes; and meaningful, assessable, and verifiable indicators of achievement that form the basis for evaluating mission fulfillment respects the diversity of institutions within the region and their methods of educational delivery, culture, and measures of student achievement.1
NWCCU’s Mission Fulfillment Fellowship prepares higher education leaders to advance institutional mission fulfillment and quality initiatives through assessment, reflection, and planning. The Fellowship is designed to introduce faculty, staff, and administrators from NWCCU institutions to regional and national leaders in assessment, accreditation, data analysis, quality assurance, educational innovation, and educational effectiveness – and Fellows are expected to work in pairs of institutional partners to produce a final project advancing their institution’s planning and assessment practices and quality improvement activities with regard to equity, student learning, and/or student achievement.
The Fellowship’s curriculum includes two three-day residential experiences (virtual, if residential experiences are not safely possible), on-line and hands-on experiential activities, and a final project designed to advance the Mission Fulfillment of the Fellows’ own institutions. Fellowship materials and presenters are selected to offer Fellows a wide range of subject-matter, including: the role of assessment in institutional planning and decision-making, the use of data and analytics to demonstrate and guide increased equity and institutional mission fulfillment, creating a culture of institutional evidence and excellence, engaging with faculty to support institutional advancement, the use of technology to support institutional efforts, creating systems of ongoing quality improvement, and how national and regional policy shapes institutional practice. Fellows will also be matched with a peer mentor from a prior Fellowship Cohort, if desired, and placed in small-group peer Communities of Practice based on the Final Project area selected.
Fellowship Requirements
The Fellowship is open to faculty, staff, and administrators who are committed to:
Fellowship Outcomes
Graduates of the NWCCU Mission Fulfillment Fellowship will be able to:
NWCCU Mission Fulfillment Fellowship Curriculum
Unit One – The Purpose, Value, and Context of Mission Fulfillment and Quality Improvement
Unit Two – Introduction to Assessing Student Learning
Unit Three – Introduction to Assessing Mission Fulfillment
Unit Four – Building a Culture of Engagement, Evidence, and Excellence
Unit Five – Building Ongoing, Integrated Quality Improvement Processes
Unit Six – Mission Fulfillment and Quality Improvement
The Final Project
NWCCU Mission Fulfillment Fellows will present a final project applying mission fulfillment best practices to an institutional challenge/opportunity at their institution. The two (2) Fellows from each institution will collaborate and present a single project that analyzes, interprets, and integrates data into their own institutions’ planning, facilitates a collaborative solution with internal stakeholders to advance equitable student learning, student achievement, and mission fulfillment within the fellows’ institution.
The project should include a description of the challenge or opportunity experienced at the Fellows’ institution (and the historical context), reflection upon current literature and best practices, and a discussion and analysis of the implementation efforts employed during the Fellowship. Finally, the project should offer a reflection upon how the solutions brought to bear on the opportunity/challenge could be applied to wider contexts or different institutional challenges.
Institutional Visits
NWCCU Fellows are required to participate in an observation role with two (2) other institutions. The institutions can be tribal, two-year, four-year, private, public, or faith-based from within or outside of the region. The visits are an opportunity to assess the practices and capacity of institutions, and to bring back and apply best practices to the Fellow’s own institution. Fellows will be required to write-up two (2) three-page summaries that explore the practices of the observed institutions and how they can be applied to the Fellow’s own institution.
Tuition and Associated Costs
Tuition cost for the NWCCU Fellowship is $4,900 per Fellow (which covers all seminars and webinars, and onsite accommodations/food for the first residential meeting). Institutions that wish to send more than the required two (2) Fellows, or who wish to send only one, should contact the Fellowship Director. In addition, Fellows will meet onsite for three days in June 2023 and on-site for three days in March 2024; Fellows will be responsible for travel to both convenings and for their overnight food and lodging costs at the second onsite convening.
For more information, please contact Dr. Gita Bangera gbangera@nwccu.org.
[1] https://nwccu.org/accreditation/standards-policies/standards/
The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) fosters through its accreditation standards, policies, and eligibility standards a process of continuous quality improvement centered around student success and the fulfillment of each member institution’s unique mission. NWCCU’s unique accreditation model allowing institutions to define their mission; core themes; and meaningful, assessable, and verifiable indicators of achievement that form the basis for evaluating mission fulfillment respects the diversity of institutions within the region and their methods of educational delivery, culture, and measures of student achievement.1
NWCCU’s Data Equity Fellowship prepares higher education leaders to advance institutional mission fulfillment and equity initiatives through data-informed approaches to assessment, reflection, and planning to eliminate equity gaps. The Fellowship is designed to bring together faculty, staff, and administrators that identify as “data focused” or “equity focused” to collaborate on a meaningful data-informed project with expert facilitation to improve equitable outcomes. The Fellowship is unique in its approach to bridging “data” and “equity” roles with a strong focus on effective collaboration across roles, departments, units, and functional areas; emphasis on using agile methods for institutional transformation; planning for sustainability and scalability; facilitation by national experts; and active engagement in communities of practice.
Fellows are expected to work in pairs (or small teams) of institutional partners to produce a final project advancing their institution’s mission-aligned goals to improve equitable outcomes.
The Fellowship’s curriculum is designed to enable equitable participation regardless of geographic location. Therefore, Fellowship activities are conducted in a 100% remote format (online, travel is not required) with special consideration given to differing levels of access to high-speed internet. In addition to monthly Fellowship and Community of Practice meetings, presentations and “office hours” with national experts in the fields of data equity and diversity, equity, and inclusion, Fellows will collaborate towards a final project designed to advance the equity goals of the Fellows’ own institutions.
Fellowship materials, presenters, and expert consultants have been selected to offer Fellows a wide range of modern and highly relevant subject matter, including: optimizing the value of data in effective institutional planning and decision-making, effectively using data and analytics to guide increased equity and institutional mission fulfillment, working effectively with qualitative data, creating a culture of evidence and excellence, core principles of data equity, using of agile methods to support institutional transformation, planning for sustainability and scalability, quality improvement, and how national and regional policy shapes institutional practice. Fellows will also be placed in small-group peer Communities of Practice based on the Final Project area selected.
Fellowship Requirements
The Fellowship is open to faculty, staff, and administrators who are committed to:
Fellowship Outcomes
Graduates of the Data Equity Fellowship will be able to:
Data Equity Fellowship Curriculum
Unit One – Foundations and Groundwork
Unit Two – Defining Areas of Focus
Unit Three – Creating Solutions & Inquiry
Unit Four – Scaling & Sustaining
Unit Five – Sharing Knowledge
The Final Project
Data Equity Fellows will present a final project applying a data-informed approach to an equity-focused challenge/opportunity at their institution. The Fellowship team from each institution will collaborate and present a single project that analyzes, interprets, and integrates data equity principles into their own institutions’ planning, facilitates a collaborative solution with diverse internal stakeholders to advance equitable student learning, student achievement, and mission fulfillment within the Fellows’ institution.
The project should include a description of the challenge or opportunity experienced at the Fellows’ institution (and the historical context), reflection upon current literature and best practices, the data equity principles applied, and a discussion and analysis of the implementation efforts employed during the Fellowship. Finally, the project should offer a reflection upon how the solutions brought to bear on the opportunity/challenge could be sustained and applied to broader contexts or different institutional challenges.
Communities of Practice
Fellows are required to participate in a Community of Practice with other institutions, which may be tribal, two-year, four-year, private, public, or faith-based from within or outside of the region. Communities of Practice provide an opportunity to assess the practices and capacity of institutions, and to bring back and apply best practices to the Fellows’ own institution. Fellows will be required to write seven (7) monthly guided reflections that explore learning, observations, and professional development from engagement in the Community of Practice and how these can be applied within the Fellow’s own institution.
Tuition and Associated Costs
Tuition cost for the Data Equity Fellowship is $4,900 per Fellow. Institutions that wish to send more than the required two (2) Fellows, or who wish to send only one, should contact the Fellowship Director. In future years, Fellows will meet at the NWCCU annual conference for special programs and professional & social networking opportunities.
For more information, please contact the Fellowship Director: Dr. Jess Stahl, Vice President, Data Science & Analytics at jstahl@nwccu.org.
Noel Vest
