Lesson 14
Nancy Donaldson

Carefully read and review the content organized in Lesson 14 on this topic.

Six associations in the U.S. are responsible for educational accreditation of institutions. Texas schools and universities are under governance of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. SACS accredits schools from pre-kindergarten through the university level in 11 states in the southeast U.S. and in Latin America. To assure the public of their quality, member schools perform self-evaluations on a regular basis. SACS is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Three commissions within SACS are responsible for accrediting member institutions: the Commission on Elementary and Middle Schools, the Commission on Secondary and Middle Schools, and the Commission on Colleges. SACS' mission is: Improvement of Education in the South through Accreditation. Further information on SACS can be found on their web site: http://www.sacs.org/.

The criteria for accreditation of schools apply to all institutional programs, regardless of whether programs are delivered on site or online. The key concept here, for purposes of Lesson 14, is that institutions seeking accreditation for distance learning programs must be able to demonstrate quality and demonstrate that these programs are comparable to on campus programs. Institutions must develop clear, specific, and measurable goals for distance education programs that are consistent with the mission of the institution. A competent faculty, adequate library resources, computer resources, materials, equipment, and physical facilities must be provided. The institution, whether on site or online, must ensure appropriate levels of student achievement.

Criteria for accreditation of an educational institution includes of the following broad categories:

Principles and Philosophy of Accreditation
Institutional Purpose
Institutional Effectiveness
Education Programs
Education Support Services
Administrative Processes

Since online courses and distance education programs have greatly increased in number and popularity during the past few years, accreditation has become a crucial issue. There are so many new online course providers, both public and private, that it is important to ensure course standards and academic rigor are acceptable. Continual assessment and demonstration of effectiveness is central to the accreditation process for distance education.

The following information from the web site of UT Telecampus, the provider for this course, describes the policy for quality control in the development of online courses at UTTC:

Oversight committees have been formed to address quality issues of courses offered through the UTTC.Oversight of the development and delivery of a program will be provided by one or both of these committees. These committees will meet regularly to make decisions regarding program development and to share ideas and experiences. Ongoing monitoring of courses and program quality will be the responsibility of both the institutions and the collaborative groups.

The UTTC recommends that an Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) and an Executive Committee (EC) be formed. The AAC should consist of no more than two faculty members from each participating institution, appointed by the dean of each respective college. This committee will be responsible for the quality of all deliverables associated with the program and will take a pro-active role in ensuring that all content, prerequisites, simulations, and faculty are appropriately selected and properly utilized. In this manner each institution is able to maintain academic control over the quality of the program. The EC will be strategic in nature and will have the responsibility to set overall strategy and goals for the online program.

Lesson 14 Questions:

1) Why accreditation?

To improve the standards and quality of education and to assure the public that institutions meet the established standards

2) Who oversees it?

Six educational accrediting associations in the United States that roughly correspond to states located in the following geographic regions of the country: Northern New England, Middle States, North Central, Southern, Western, Northwest

3) What type of supporting evidence is needed?

To prove Institutional Effectiveness for accreditation purposes, educational institutions must provide:

Planning procedures and documentation
Assessment and evaluation of all institutional operations and documentation of results
Demonstrable use of evaluation results and information to improve all aspects of institution

In addition, both on site and online educational programs must provide evidence of adequate levels and standards in course content, faculty oversight, student achievement, student access to faculty, adequate facilities, record keeping, faculty qualifications, and evaluation and assessment.

4) What differences, if any, exist between accreditation of regular instructional programs and distance learning programs?

There are no differences in the accreditation standards. Online courses must be comparable to the same or similar courses offered on site.

5) What role are the new information technologies and educational communications playing in counteracting and changing the strongest criticism of distance education?

The strongest criticism of distance learning is that the "human touch" is lost in online courses. However, through the use of chat rooms, email, and other synchronous and asynchronous communications, relationships can be built online among students and instructors. In fact, it may be that many students are prone to participate more actively than they would in face-to-face settings, because the physically divisive factors of age, race, socio-economic status, etc., are not evident in the virtual classroom.