Both the premise and substance of “When universities slap their names on for-profit coding boot camps” (3/20/2023) miss the mark and are misleading. As an institution accredited by WSCUC, Dominican University of California did not “slap” its name on anything, let alone a boot camp.

Dominican entered into a partnership with Make School to offer a Dominican applied computer science bachelor’s and a minor within that program. To allow that, it went through WSCUC’s substantive change review process and followed WSCUC’s Agreements with Unaccredited Entities and Incubation Policies. Dominican faculty vetted and WSCUC reviewed the academic program, students were enrolled at Dominican, and Dominican was responsible for the quality and integrity of all activities conducted in its name. When the partnership ended, WSCUC and Dominican ensured that students could complete their degree program honoring its terms, and Dominican is tracking completion and employment results.

We agree that these and other partnerships need to be examined, which is why WSCUC has processes and policies to do so.

Jamienne S. Studley
President
WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC)