Frequently Asked Questions

Per section 3.5.3 of the 2020 Procedures, a program should send a roster of passing students from the course(s) that satisfy SC.5 and the roster of passing students from the course(s) that satisfy SC.6, respectively. These should be two separate rosters provided in Excel or Word format and emailed as an attachment to accreditation@naab.org. NAAB has created a sample Student Roster Template in word format, which is an optional tool for programs to use. Rosters are sent at the end of the fall term for programs with a visit in the Spring and the end of the Spring term for programs with a visit in the Fall.

Note: Students may be duplicated between courses that satisfy each criterion and/or between the two lists. NAAB will randomly select students from the list of unduplicated names of students passing courses that satisfy each criterion. The program will then select all work from each selected student in each course that was listed as satisfying the criterion. NAAB’s random selection will be specific to SC.5 and SC.6, respectively, so there may or may not be duplication of students in our selection.

Additional information is available in the Guidelines for the Use of Digital Content in Accreditation Visits.

Yes. For purposes of providing the student rosters, both courses should be listed in the roster for each criterion.

If the student is only selected to demonstrate evidence for satisfying one criterion rather than both (for example, if Student X was randomly selected for SC.5 but not for SC.6), you can then annotate each example to provide respective course details and learning outcomes within the criterion being satisfied.

Yes. The requirement is for a list of students who passed the course. As an example, if there are seven assignments in a course that satisfies SC.5-6, and a student doesn’t pass one of the seven assignments, but the student still passed the course, the student would be included in the list of passing students to be randomly selected by NAAB. Alternatively, if, for example, three required courses are needed to show the complete evidence for SC.5 or SC.6, and in a cohort there is one student who did not pass all three of those courses, then that student’s work should not be included in the roster. If there were 45 students in that cohort, there would only be 44 names (or ID number) on the class list submitted to NAAB for SC.5-6.

The institution/program defines what is considered passing. The syllabus typically would have the grading rubric in it.  If a D is passing as defined by a program, then students receiving D would be included in the list of passing students from which work will be randomly selected. 

It is up to the school how they choose to provide this evidence. Lecture material is required but its format is up to the school. A summary of lectures will suffice.

Copies of blank exam forms should be included for all Student Criteria (SC). For SC.1-4, programs need to provide aggregated data that demonstrates that student learning outcomes are being achieved. For SC.5-6, programs need to provide graded student exams.

If the syllabus and learning objectives are identical for each section (same project, same topics, same grading rubric, etc), all sections are treated as one pool from which randomly selected student examples are taken. One syllabus would suffice with all faculty listed.

Programs and faculty have the flexibility to deliver content differently across sections, provided that student learning outcomes data can demonstrate that students are achieving those learning outcomes. A program does not need to show all the inputs for all sections to demonstrate that they are teaching the exact same things across all sections. However, since the 2020 Conditions are rooted in outcomes-based assessment, the program must have in place (and describe and demonstrate) a systematic process that ensures consistency of outcomes across sections. If a program provides exemplar lectures, it needs to demonstrate that student learning across sections is consistent, that it is assessed consistently, and that student achievement meets the benchmarks the program has set for student learning across all sections. Assessment data demonstrating the consistency of student learning is key to this approach.

If one course offers sections with different syllabi and learning objectives, the program must submit evidence from each section. The syllabus for each section must be provided and must all contain the information that NAAB requires).

Note: Each PC and SC is reviewed and evaluated separately, therefore syllabi need to be provided for each PC and SC that they are intended to satisfy.

For group work, include a summary of individual student contribution to the group work. Each student in the group must have received a passing grade for the class; if one student did not, that project should not be selected.  

As described on p. 11 of the Guidelines to the Accreditation Process, section 3.5.2 of the 2020 Procedures describes the types of evidence required for the assessment of SC.1 through SC.4. What evaluators are looking for is a description of how the program achieves and evaluates each criterion – and each part of each criterion – and evidence that the program has developed and regularly assesses student learning outcomes associated with the criterion, making changes to the curriculum and pedagogies in response to the results of these assessments.

As they prepare their evidence, programs should ensure that the evidence is identifiable and accessible to the visiting team in the supporting materials submitted: relevant syllabi, assignments, course schedules, and/or instructional materials. Consider tools such as a rubric in the program’s assessment that evaluates students’ ability for this part of the criterion and report on the results of that assessment. Demonstrate how the program has used those results to make changes or improvements to the program.

Programs may provide both curricular and non-curricular activities as evidence. The narrative in the APR and supporting evidence will need to demonstrate that all students had substantially similar learning experiences for each PC, even if not all students had the same experience. A curricular example would be all students taking one required elective from a list of three courses covering different aspects of the dynamics between the built and natural environments (PC.3).  A non-curricular activity might be a program requirement to work with a community group or organization that have different social contexts but provide opportunities to apply effective collaboration skills (PC.8).  

The program must collect all passing student work produced for the course(s) in which the learning outcomes associated with criteria 3.1: Program Criteria and 3.2: Student Criteria are achieved within one year before the visit, or the full academic cycle in which the courses are offered.

There is a section in the beginning of the APR template that asks programs to provide a narrative regarding progress made on each Not Met SPC from the last visit. Depending on which SPC it is, it may be evaluated as part of a more comprehensive PC or SC as part of the 2020 Conditions. In this section, the program could state that the SPC is no longer specifically required under the 2020 Conditions and therefore the program decided to (options):

1. Include it within courses Arch xxx under PC.x (or SC.x).
2. Include it within their curriculum as an elective or other required courses that do not fulfill SC or PC.
3. Not include it in their program.

Yes. The program needs to provide primary evidence (2020 Procedures, section 3.5.3) for each area of the criterion.