OSU Reaccreditation Site Visit Summary
We are happy to report that Oregon State University recently completed a successful reaccreditation site visit on April 7-10, 2026, which included numerous meaningful engagements across the institution. The visit included a short visit to OSU-Cascades on the 7th, and there was outstanding engagement. The bult of the visit took place on the Corvallis campus, where participation was noted as excellent.
Engagement and Participation
Over 235 staff members participated during the classified and professional faculty forum, and topic-specific meetings saw a remarkable 99.5% attendance rate. Engagement at the Cascades campus exceeded all expectations with more than 120 participants, and in total, over 600 participants were involved institution-wide throughout the visit.
Outcomes
The preliminary report from NWCCU is quite positive and includes six commendations and two recommendations. The are listed below:
Commendations
- The development and widespread adoption of the PWS strategic plan.
- The embodiment of "Every Student Graduates" through the thoughtful design of support services for all students included Ecampus and transfer students.
- The culture of collaboration across the university community and with external partners.
- Fostering and promoting a university wide culture of learning assessment among its academic and professional faculty.
- Faculty members' intentional redesign of Core Education and the development of an assessment plan that provides the opportunity to collect meaningful data for continuous improvement.
- Ove The institution's master's and doctoral programs, offered across all campuses and modalities, with institutionally meaningful learning outcomes, assessment processes, and comprehensive support services.
Recommendations
- The institution systematically assess its Core Education category-specific learning outcomes and use the finding to continuously improve student learning. (1.C.6, 1.C.7)
- The institution establish and publish on its website a student achievement indicator for post-graduation success. (1.D.2, 1.D.3)
Following the visit, we received the peer evaluation team's report, and we returned minimal suggested edits as corrections of fact. The report should be received by the commission (from the site visit chair) by Friday, May 1, 2026. It is important to note that the initial commendations and recommendations may change, as the commission makes the final determination of those. The commission is scheduled to meet July 7-10, 2026, and the final letter containing official commendations and recommendations will be issued within 30 days of that meeting.
Accolades and Appreciation
Over Academic Affairs is extremely grateful for the active engagement from faculty and the rest of the university community over the past several years. Special thanks to Stephanie Baugh and Caryn Stoess for their tremendous life over the past two years on preparing materials for the reaccreditation process. Thank you to everyone who participated in the reaccreditation process and to everyone for their daily commitment to continuous improvement and dedication to their work at OSU.
Written by Rebecca Mathern, Associate Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and University Registrar, Division of Academic Affairs