03
October
2008
|
10:29 AM
America/Los_Angeles

CSUSM Participates in Accountability Project

CSUSM Participates in Accountability Project Prospective students, their parents and others interested in knowing what it’s like to attend CSUSM can now get a statistical “picture” of campus life by visiting the University’s website, www.csusm.edu, and clicking the “College Portrait” button at the lower left side of the screen.There, the visitor will find data ranging from student ages, race/ethnicity and success rates, to cost, financial aid, class size and campus safety. But that’s not all: there are also numbers on student satisfaction, how much time they spend preparing for class, ratings regarding interaction with faculty and a myriad of other revealing, easy-to-understand facts and figures.Cal State San Marcos was one of 17 universities nationally—and one of only four CSUs—who volunteered to pilot test this “College Portrait” beta template and post results earlier this year.The Voluntary System of AccountabilityTM project was developed by the College PortraitTM with the help of more than 80 educators from across the country.  CSUSM is one of 302 participating colleges and universities now hosting the College PortraitTM on their campus website as part of the Voluntary System of Accountability, a voluntary commitment to transparency which provides the public with data concerning learning outcomes, how students are engaged in their college experience, and how smoothly they progress toward their degree.   “It is my hope that the Voluntary System of Accountability will become a model that leverages processes and tools that are in place already and have proven effective including accreditation, assessment of learning outcomes, the National Survey for Student Engagement, and the Collegiate Learning Assessment,” stated President Karen Haynes. “CSUSM is committed to transparency and providing proof that we prepare our students to be exceptional, that we contribute substantially to their development of critical thinking, analytic reasoning, and written communication skills, that we provide an environment in which to learn, to collaborate and grow.”