Lesson 14 - Accreditation
Charleen Worsham

Why accreditation?

Don't we all clean house before company is coming? Well, if you have never been involved in preparing for a SACS visit, you have really missed out on some major cleaning! I think when it all comes down to it, the accreditation process is a good thing. It forces us to take a serious look at how we operate and attempts to insure that we are always in a process of self-improvement. The peer review process works since the people who are checking you out have extensive experience in an institution similar to the one they are visiting.

Who oversees it?

The U.S. is carved up into a number of regional accrediting agencies. We are located in the Southern district, which is headquarted in Atlanta. I made my first visit to the SACs convention last year and I was a very educational experience! Especially when they do the roll call and either re-affirm or give notice to institutions regarding their compliance. There are a lot of very good workshops - it is worth the trip. If you have a chance to be involved in the preparation for a self-study visit at your school such as serving on the steering committee - run the other way (just kidding, it is a lot of work but you will learn a lot about how things work from a global perspective.)

What types of supporting evidence is needed?

When we had our site visit it was unbelievable the amount of documentation that was required. They check out everything from personnel records to insure that your faculty have the proper credentials to the minutes of your athletic advisory committee. One very large item is the issue of institutional effectiveness (IE) - the fact that you must have a system that includes all units of the institution (both administrative and instructional), and that the system encourages constant improvement.

What differences exist?

Well, I spent last summer preparing a Distance Learning Plan for our college. This was used to provide documentation when applying for substantive change to SACS, where we requested that we be able to offer degrees and certificates online. Basically, my plan was somewhat like a mini self-study document in that it addressed all aspects of the program including administration, faculty, training, student support, IE and the like.

Role of new information and technologies in changing criticism?

Practice makes perfect, doesn't it? The more experience we get with web-based instruction and the more sophisticated our tools become, the better we are able to address some of the concerns that opponents to distance education have had. I think that faculty and students are both becoming better prepared to teach and learn online since it has become more mainstream.

BTW - they are in the process of changing everything up as far as the Criteria is concerned.