The Accreditation Process &
Use of Professional Standards
(From Schuh and Upcraft, Assessment in Student Affairs and the
Handbook of Accreditation, HLC)
Contents:
North Central Association of
Colleges and Schools
At
http://www.ncachihe.org and
http://www.ncacihe.org/AQIP/index.htm
- Voluntary and is a non-governmental agency
- Institutions voluntarily seek accreditation; however,
institutions must be accredited for students to be eligible
to participate in federal financial aid programs
- Institutions are reviewed every ten years
- In general, the accrediting associations have similar
processes, but variations exist
- There are six regional agencies providing
accreditation on a geographic basis: Middle States, New
England, North Central, Northwest, Southern, and Western
- While independent of one another, they cooperate
extensively
- HLC is responsible for accreditation of 19 states
- HLC was formed in 1895; it began accrediting
institutions in 1913
- In June, 2000, HLC adopted new criteria based on an
internal self-evaluation for several years
- HLC has a new mission statement, core values,
vision, and strategic priorities
- HLC’s mission: “Serving the common good by assuring
and advancing the quality of higher education
- HLC’s core values: quality, integrity, innovation,
diversity, inclusiveness, service, collaboration, and
learning
- HLC’s traditional program for maintaining accredited
status was given a new identity in 2003: Program to
Evaluate and Advance Quality (PEAQ)
- Accreditation evaluators meet five criteria
- Official, full-time employees of HLC institutions
- Have appropriate training and experience
- Meet the projected needs of the commission
- Represent a diversity of people
- Are willing and able to devote their time and energy
to the process
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North Central Association: five
key factors in long-range assessment of student learning
- The governing board supports the assessment of student
learning across the institution’s educational programs
- Senior executive officers provide leadership and support
for assessment
- Sufficient resources are allocated to sustain ongoing
assessment efforts
- Sufficient resources are allocated to sustain ongoing
assessment efforts
- All planning and budgeting processes include ways in
which assessment information can influence institutional
priorities
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Timing of Assessment: HLC guidelines
- Assessment needs to be done on an annual basis
- Regular, routine assessments need to be done
- The assessment process needs to be comprehensive,
applied to a wide range of programs
- All programs in Student Affairs need to hold
assessments, including assessing student needs, student
satisfaction with programs and services, and measuring the
impact of programs and service through outcomes assessment
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Steps in the Re-Accreditation Process
- The organization engages in a self-study process for
approximately two years and prepares a report of its
findings in accordance with Commission expectations
- The Commission sends an evaluation team of
consultant-evaluators to conduct a comprehensive visit for
continued accreditation and to write a report containing the
team’s recommendation
- The documents relating to the comprehensive visit are
reviewed by a Readers Panel, or in some situations, a Review
Committee
- The Institutional Actions Committee (IAC) takes action
on the Readers Panel’s recommendation. (If a Review
Committee reviewed the visit, the Review Committee takes
action
- The Board of Trustees validates the IAC or Review
Committee, finalizing the action
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General Potential Assessment
Questions by an Accreditation Team
- Do you have an assessment plan?
- Are you doing assessment, and if so, what have you done
or are you doing?
- Has what you have done led to improvement of services
and programs?
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More Specific Potential
Questions by an Accreditation Team
- What is your Student Affairs mission, and do your
services and programs reflect this mission?
- Who are your students, and is there evidence that your
student services and programs match well with the needs of
these students?
- What evidence is there that your students are satisfied
with the student services and programs that you offer?
- Is there a relationship between use of your student
services and programs and intended student outcomes?
- Does the assessment of your services and programs focus
on student learning outcomes?
- How would you describe your campus climate?
- Can you demonstrate that your student services and
programs meet accepted national professional standards and
service- specific accreditation?
- Do the breadth, depth, and quality of your student
services and programs compare well with institutions similar
to you?
- Are your student services and programs cost-effective?
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Use of Professional Standards:
Council for the Advancement of Standards for Higher Education
(CAS)
- Chartered in 1979, CAS is a consortium of professional
associations to develop standards for student services and
student development programs in higher education
- Standards have been developed for institutions to
implement self-evaluations
- Standards use language like “must”, “shall”, or “will”,
while guidelines use “should” or “may”.
- Eight separate steps are recommended for implementing a
CAS self-study
- Decide on a self-study approach
- Identify guidelines to use
- Clarify criterion measures to be used
- Identify and summarize evaluative data
- Describe discrepancies between criteria and practice
- Delineate required corrective actions
- Recommend program enhancement actions
- Recommend program enhancement actions
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