Accrediting Body Approves UCR Palm Desert Programs

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) has approved the proposal to have UCR Palm Desert offer masters’ degree programs in business and fine arts this fall, University of California, Riverside officials announced today.

The WASC Substantive Change Committee issued the approval in an e-mail to university officials. “Approval by the committee is recommended before a campus can offer more than half of a program at a site that is 25 miles or farther from the home campus,” said Robert Gill, a consultant for UCR in the accreditation process. UCR Palm Desert is a satellite campus of UC Riverside, which is about 60 miles from the home campus.

“This is a key step in establishing high quality educational programs at UCR Palm Desert and sets a solid foundation for the development of future programs in a wide array of disciplines designed to address the issues confronting the region,” said Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Ellen Wartella.

Geared to new college graduates, would-be entrepreneurs, and young executives, the MBA program at UCR Palm Desert will be taught at the Richard J. Heckmann International Center for Entrepre-neurial Management in a collaborative between professors from the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCR and business executives and entrepreneurs who call the Coachella Valley home.

Concurrently with the Heckmann Center, UCR Palm Desert will offer a master of fine arts (MFA) degree in creative writing and writing for the performing arts. The degree program is being developed with faculty from the departments of creative writing, theatre, English, and the Film and Visual Culture Program at UC Riverside.

“Our new MBA and MFA programs are both highly creative and innovative, and we are pleased with WASC’s approval,” said Ken Walters, executive director of UCR Palm Desert.

As a regional accrediting body, WASC’s focus is primarily on accrediting institutions, but it also accredits programs, such as those at UCR Palm Desert, through the substantive change process. A substantive change is one which may significantly affect an institution’s quality, objectives, scope or control.

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