By Jack Goldfisher

President Thomas C. Hudnut will head a Western Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation committee in Taiwan later this month.

The committee will tour Taipei American School and evaluate the school’s quality under guidelines set forth by WASC.

In November, Hudnut visited Taipei American School, and his goals were to “examine all aspects of school life and operations and see whether the school [was] being true to its mission,” to prepare for the WASC committee’s upcoming evaluation.

The degree to which a school is accomplishing the purposes and functions outlined in its statement of purpose is chief among determining how WASC rates a school.

In addition, WASC’s accreditation handbook sets forth a full set of criteria to determine whether to award an American school accreditation.

These criteria include school organization, student resources, student connectedness and community involvement.

WASC sets forth a set of criteria specific to schools in China, which includes additional requirements relating to a school’s finance management and stresses the school’s active promotion of intercultural and international awareness.

“I’ve chaired probably 15 or 20 visiting committees, but never out of this country,” Hudnut said