San Francisco State University

Self-Study for WASC Reaccreditation 

SECTION E: A User-Friendly University

Providing an education which affirms the right of all to a hospitable and sustaining working and learning environment

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In order to bring forth the best from our community—the highest academic and professional achievements and the most positive and fruitful collaborations and interactions—San Francisco State University seeks to create as user-friendly a campus environment as possible. Beyond having a smooth-running operation, being a user-friendly institution involves cultivating open, productive communication. It entails a clarity of purpose; flexible, yet well-ordered, guidelines for communication and interaction; relevant, well-understood policies and procedures; facilities that are clean, safe, attractive; and functional; and technology to meet the information needs of the twenty-first century. It means proving that SFSU can be a large, public, urban university without being impersonal.

No community of our size and diversity can progress on a single front; all of us learn, work, and grow together in a web of interactions. For this reason, the university seeks to ensure the free flow of information and resources by maintaining equitable, accessible policies and procedures and by creating as many open avenues as possible. It seeks to ensure accessibility and comfort by maintaining a hospitable, sustaining, and technologically-sophisticated learning environment.

In this section of the self-study, we will attempt to demonstrate how the university implements the above "insurance" policy (1). We will look first at endeavors to make the university’s policies and procedures more user-friendly. Then, in two subsequent chapters, we will focus attention on the institution’s facilities and on its activities in the area of information technology, both of which areas have a significant bearing on academic excellence, learner-centeredness, and the other strategic planning themes, in addition to user-friendliness.

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(1) It should be noted here that Chapters 5 and 6, dealing with support services for students, also contain an important "user-friendliness" dimension.

Chapter 12: User-Friendly Climate, Policies, and Procedures

Chapter 13: University Facilities

Chapter 14: Integrated Information Technology

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This page designed and maintained by David Apelt - updated January 19, 2001