Quality Assurance
Oak Valley’s ensures quality assurance and quality control in key academic and student service areas, including.
Faculty Performance - Instructional quality is Oak Valley’s top priority. Presentation of course materials, preparing students to succeed, and aligning curriculum to student and program learning outcomes are imperatives. Faculty are reviewed after their first time teaching and annually, thereafter. Unlike many institutions, this involves a holistic review of performance standards, similar to full-time employee performance reviews.
Faculty Development - The Dean of Academics prepares an annual calendar of faculty trainings to ensure the latest standards are applied to teaching and learning. For instance, over the past few years, a great deal of attention has focused on AI integration and making courses AI resistant. Oak Valley is clearly ahead of the curve when it comes to ongoing faculty development.
Academic Excellence and Rigor - Each semester the President and Dean of Academics discuss the importance of academic excellence and rigor, outlining to professors the expectations for students to A) perform at a high-level on all their assignments (not assigning busywork, providing clear and concise expectations for student learning outcomes, and articulating to professors to not inflate grades, thereby, causing students to receive grades that they may not have earned).
Student Engagement - Oak Valley is small, and that small community is reflected in the caring and support students receive. The Dean of Students emphasizes access, support, and accountability to students. She regularly “checks-in” to hear about student needs and identifies how she can support their personal, academic, and spiritual development. Through this experience, the College identified and acted on the need to develop a kind of student government. In 2026, the College added the role of Cohort Captains, leaders within each cohort to collaborate with the dean on student engagement and development. In addition, in Fall Examples of this are exemplified in the addition of Cohort Captains, which enable leadership within each cohort.
Student Services - While Oak Valley provides limited student services when compared to many small residential college campuses, the services provided are well thought out and appropriate for the College’s unique student demographic. Professional career services were added in 2026 and provide students with career training, coaching, and direct placement services. Professional counseling services are readily available and well received by students who take advantage of the services. These and other student services are regularly reviewed, and,, when appropriate, are revised or added to.