ACCJC Standards Glossary 

Defining Accreditation

Assessment
Methods that an institution employs to gather evidence and evaluate quality.

Collegial
Participative and mutually respectful

Dialogue
Self-reflective exchanges engaged in by the college community, characterized by a free exchange of ideas without the purpose of defending or deciding on a course of action.

Evidence of Institution and Program Performance
Quantitative and qualitative data which an institution as a whole uses to determine the extent to which it attains the performance goals it establishes for itself.

Information Competency
Capability to access, evaluate, and use information in fulfillment of coursework and independent study.

Ongoing
Addressed regularly as part of the business of the college rather than in response to periodic external requirements. Qualitative Data Data relating to, or involving quality or kind, which cannot be represented numerically, such as portfolios of work, narrative description and evaluation of a performance, learner description and analysis of a learning experience.

Quantitative Data
Data which can be represented numerically

Student Learning Outcomes
Knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes that a student has attained at the end (or as a result) of his or her engagement in a particular set of collegiate experiences.

Total Cost of Ownership
In addition to the initial cost of a purchase, all long-term and indirect costs resulting from that purchase.