Accreditation, the SelfStudy,

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• Accreditation, the Self-Study, the Criteria
• Cecilia L. López, Ph.D.
• Associate Director
• The Higher Learning Commission
• North Central Association of Colleges and
  Schools
  
• clopez_at_hlcommission.org
• www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org

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Session Topic Accreditation 101

• Goal is to answer these questions
• How many types of accreditation are there, and
  how do they differ?
  
• To whom are accrediting agencies accountable?
• Why accreditation?
• What is the HLC/NCA, and what are its mission and
  purposes?

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Session Topic Self-Study

• Goal is to answer these questions
• What are the characteristics of a self-study
  process?
  
• What does the Commission expect?
• How should we prepare for the self-study?
• What might be evidence of a useful self-study
  process?
  

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Session Topics New Criteria for Accreditation

• Goal is to answer these questions
• What is new at the Higher Learning Commission /
  NCA?
  
• How might we think about the new Criteria for
  Accreditation?

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What Accrediting Agency?
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How many types of accreditation?

• Specialized
• Institutional

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How many types of specialized accrediting
agencies? How do they differ?

• Professional / Licensure
• NCATE, NLN, ABA, APA
• Academic
• AACSB, NASAD, NASAM

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How many types of institutional accrediting
agencies? How do they differ?

• National Associations
• AABC, AALE, ACICS, ACCET, ATS, COE, DETC
• Regional Associations (n 8)
• New England (NEASC)
• Middle States (MSA)
• Southern Association (SACS)
• Northwestern Association (NWASC 2)
• Western Association (WASC 2)
• Higher Learning Commission of the North Central
  Association of Colleges and Schools

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Accountable to whom?

• Voluntary CHEA
• CHEA established by degree-granting institutions
• Recognition limited to agencies that accredit
  degree-granting entities
  
• Required US Department of Education
• Recognition limited to agencies with gate-keeping
  responsibilities

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Why be regionally accredited?

• Federal Financial Aid
• Federal student aid 60B annually
• Higher Education Reauthorization Act
• 1944 Servicemens Readjustment Act (GI Bill)
• 1952 Law amended to authorize state education
  agencies to rely on DOE recognized accrediting
  agencies to determine eligibility under the GI
  Bill.
• 1965 Higher Education Act created new federal
  student aid programs for non-veterans
  

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Why be regionally accredited?

• Federal and state financial aid
• Transferability of academic credit
• Grants (state/foundations)
• Federal funds (specified programs or services and
  capital construction)
  
• Recruit students and faculty
• Graduates

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WHAT IS THE HLC / NCA?

• Formed in 1895
• VOLUNTARY
• NON-GOVERNMENTAL
• INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP
• MEMBER-DEFINED STANDARDS
• PEER REVIEW
• RESPECTS INSTITUTIONAL MISSION AND AUTONOMY
• ADVOCATES INSTITUTIONAL IMPROVEMENT

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The Higher Learning Commission Region
19 States 999 institutions
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What is the Commissions Mission?

• Serving the common good by assuring and advancing
  the quality of higher learning.
  

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What are the purposes of HLC/NCA?

• Advocate and exercise self regulation through
  peer review
  
• Enforce threshold requirements
• Protect the integrity of degrees and credentials
• Strengthen educational and institutional quality
  
  
• Provide accurate information about institutions
  to the public

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What are the characteristics of an institutional
SELF-STUDY?

• Comprehensive examination of
• What the institution says it does
• What the institution is actually doing
• How the institution will use data / information
  from self-examination to improve
  
• Student Learning
• Instruction
• Services
• Resources

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What does the Commission Expect?

• Understand the purpose of regional accreditation
• As a voluntary peer-review process, it provides
  the incentive and the means for continuous
  institutional and academic program improvement.
  
• As certification, it provides public assurance of
  the quality and integrity of an institution and
  its academic programs.

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What does the Commission expect?

• Develop a self-study process that serves both
  internal and external purposes.
  
• Focus on the whole institution.
• Encourage institutional-wide involvement.
  Everyone should have the opportunity to
  contribute to the self-study process.

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What does the Commission expect?

• Build on existing self-evaluation processes and
  structures.
  
• Evaluate rather than describe--must be analytical
  and self-critical.
  
• Identify strengths and weaknesses that need
  improvement.
  
• Produce a Self-Study report.

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What does the Commission expect?

• Understand the Self-Study as a PROCESS
• Has the strong, well-publicized endorsement of
  the Chief Executive Officer
  
• Begins with a carefully developed Self-Study
  plan
  
• Is analytical and evaluative
• Provides patterns of evidence in support of
  statements and conclusions

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What the Commission expect?

• Understand the Self-Study as a PROCESS
• Generates results/recommendations for improvement
  grounded on the institutions ongoing evaluation
  and planning efforts
  
• Should be understood to provide an important
  opportunity and the means to evaluate overall
  institutional effectiveness

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The Self-Study Report should

• Be an evaluative not a descriptive document
• Demonstrate how the institution has responded to
  previous Teams concerns / challenges
  
• Provide evidence that the Criteria are met
• Provide evidence demonstrating that each of the
  Core Components is met

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The Self - Study Report should

• Include sections on the Federal Compliance
  Program and Student Complaints
  
• Include a section on efforts to solicit Third
  Party Comment
  
• State the colleges expectations for the
  Advancement section of the Team Report.

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Preparing for the Self-Study

• Flexibility / Organizing Principles
• No one right way to conduct a Self-Study
• Consider Self-Study organized around important
  institutional questions (e.g., How can we
  effectively sustain a focus on our strategic
  priorities?)

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Preparing for the Self-Study

• Flexibility / Organizing Principles
• Remember the operative principles
• fit with Mission
• self-evaluation
• assurance advancement
• continual improvement

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Useful Self-Study Process?

• Have groups broadly representative of the College
  community been involved in the Self-study
  process?
  
• Have faculty and staff read the Self-study
  Report?
  
• Have they had the opportunity to comment on its
  content or format?

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Useful Self-Study Process?

• To what extent do faculty and staff have an
  understanding of and are in agreement with the
  underlying assumptions, assertions, and
  conclusions found in the Self-Study Report?
• Has the Self-Study process made a difference in
  setting a foundation for the Colleges future?

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Whats new at the Higher Learning Commission?

• Proposed New Criteria
• Proposed Operational Indicators
• Proposed Eligibility Requirements

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What effect, if any, will changes at HLC have on
MCCs Self-Study?

• The current GIRs and the Criteria for
  Accreditation are in effect until December 2004.
  
• When the proposed standards are adopted, they
  will go into effect January 2005.
  
• New standards will be OPTIONAL for Institutions
  with comprehensive visits in fall 2004.

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Proposed Criteria for Accreditation

• Criterion One Mission and Integrity
• Criterion Two Preparing for the Future
• Criterion Three Student Learning and Effective
  Teaching
  
• Criterion Four Acquisition, Discovery, and
  Application of Knowledge
  
• Criterion Five Engagement Service

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ELEMENTS OF THE CRITERIA
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Criterion One

• The organization operates with integrity to
  ensure the fulfillment of its mission through
  structures and processes that involve the board,
  administration, faculty, staff, and students.

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Core Component 1A

• The organizations mission documents are clear
  and articulate publicly the organizations
  commitments.
  
• Pattern of Evidence
• The mission documents state goals for the
  learning to be achieved by its students.
  

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Proposed Criterion ThreeStudent Learning and
Effective Teaching

• The organization provides evidence of student
  learning and teaching effectiveness that
  demonstrates it is fulfilling its educational
  mission.

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Proposed Criterion Three Student Learning and
Effective Teaching

• Essential Components
• The organizations goals for student learning
  outcomes are clearly stated for each educational
  program and make effective assessment possible.
  
• The organization values and supports effective
  teaching.
  
• The organization creates effective learning
  environments.
  
• The organizations learning resources support
  student learning and effective teaching.

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Proposed Criterion FourAcquisition, Discovery,
Application of Knowledge

• The organization promotes a life of learning
  for its faculty, administration, staff, and
  students by fostering and supporting inquiry,
  creativity, practice, and social responsibility
  in ways consistent with its mission.

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Proposed Criterion Four Acquisition, Discovery,
Application of Knowledge

• Essential Components
• The organization demonstrates, through the
  actions of its board, administrators, students,
  faculty, and staff, that it values a life of
  learning.
• The organization demonstrates the acquisition of
  a breadth of knowledge and skills and the
  exercise of intellectual inquiry are integral to
  its educational programs.

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Proposed Criterion Four Acquisition, Discovery,
Application of Knowledge

• Essential Components
• The organization assesses the usefulness of its
  curricula to students who will live and work in a
  global, diverse, and technological society.
  
• The organization provides support to ensure that
  faculty, students, and staff acquire, discover,
  and apply knowledge responsibly.

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Q A?