Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to share with you that I have let the Commission know that I will be leaving WSCUC at the end of 2024. The Commission will announce this publicly later today, and I wanted to communicate with you directly and confidentially in advance.

It has been a profound professional privilege to work with you and your institutions since January 2018 in service of student success and institutional quality. We often talk about the remarkable diversity of mission, program, scale, and style of the institutions accredited and seeking to be approved by WSCUC. My role has allowed me to experience that variety, to think creatively with you, and reflect and support you through WSCUC’s standards and policies, programs, and voice. We’re grateful to be your ally as your institutions adapt to support students in a time of massive change and urgent demands.

Thank you for your commitment of ideas and energy to accreditation and quality improvement, your responsiveness and feedback, and your support to WSCUC and to me personally. It has also been an honor to work alongside the outstanding WSCUC Commissioners, staff, and legion of peer reviewers and other volunteers who are the backbone of our enterprise.

With WSCUC’s mission more vital and the challenges in higher education greater than ever, this is a time to renew our efforts. So this is by no means a farewell: we have a lot to do together in the seasons to come before I leave at year end. Commission Chair Tambascia will let you know how the search process will take shape. I will do everything I can to support a smooth transition and assist the Commission and my successor.

After that, I plan to go on making connections, building bridges, exploring solutions, mentoring leaders and learning new things – in higher education and public policy, and also in the arts and community organizations. I hope to have the pleasure of collaborating, thinking aloud, or just staying in touch with you.

Sincerely,

Jamie Studley