Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

The Curriculum Licensing & Services Agreement between 1791 Delegates and its partner schools in the northwest will follow the accreditation standards of the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Specifically, 1791 Delegates emphasizes the following standards, as developed under the C-RAC Guidelines for the Evaluation of Distance Education: 

1. 1791 Delegates has in place effective procedures through which to ensure that the student who registers in a distance education course or program is the same student who participates in and completes the course or program and receives the academic credit; 

2. 1791 Delegates makes clear in its Student Handbook that these processes protect student privacy; 

3. 1791 Delegates notifies students at the time of registration and enrollment of any projected additional student charges associated with the verification procedures. 

Through its review of the institution’s distance education programs, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities seeks assurance that these programs fulfill the Standards for Accreditation; specifically: 

4. 1791 Delegates’ distance education programs are consistent with the mission and educational objectives of the partner school; 

5. 1791 Delegates provides sufficient resources – financial, human, physical, technological – to support its distance education programs; 

6. The faculty of partner school exercises oversight of distance education programs at 1791 Delegates, ensuring both the rigor of the program and the quality of instruction; 

7. 1791 Delegates’ courses and programs offered via distance education maintain the same academic standards as those offered on the main campus at the partner school; 

8. The faculty on-campus at the partner school have a substantive role in the design, implementation, and approval of distance education programs; 

9. The faculty at the partner school evaluates the educational effectiveness of each distance education program, including assessment of student learning outcomes, student retention, and student and faculty satisfaction, to ensure comparability to campus-based programs; 

10. Students enrolled in the 1791 Delegates’ distance education programs have adequate access to and make effective use of learning resources, including library, information resources; 

11. Students enrolled in the 1791 Delegates distance education programs through the partner school adequate access to student services at the partner school, including the partner school’s financial aid, academic advising, course registration, and career and placement counseling; 

12. Publications and advertising for the 1791 Delegates’ distance education programs are accurate and contain necessary information such as the program’s goals, requirements, academic calendar, and faculty; 

13. Contractual relationships and arrangements with consortial partners, if any, are clear and guarantee that the institution maintains direct and sole responsibility for the academic quality of all aspects of distance education programs. Where the institution has entered into contractual relationships involving credits and degrees, it has obtained Commission approval for the substantive change.