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Accreditation in Higher Education

Accreditation in Higher Education. Trustees Summer Institute 2009 Dan Phelan, Jackson Community College Gary Wheeler, Glen Oaks Community College. What is driving accreditation of higher education?. Public accountability & higher education. Changing contexts, few boundaries.

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Accreditation in Higher Education

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  1. Accreditation inHigher Education Trustees Summer Institute 2009 Dan Phelan, Jackson Community College Gary Wheeler, Glen Oaks Community College

  2. What is driving accreditation of higher education? Public accountability & higher education Changing contexts, few boundaries Demand for access International pressure… professional mobility Reauthorization of Higher Education

  3. Institutional or Regional NEACS MSA SACS WASC NWACS HLC National Specialized Professional Types of Accreditation U.S. has approx. 3500 regionally (institutionally) accredited institutions (HLC has 1003 and counting….)

  4. Institutional Accreditors NEASC NWCCU MSCHE HLC -North Central- WASC SACS

  5. Diversity in the Membership of Institutions (1000+) • Two-year Institutions • Four-year Bachelor’s Institutions • Four-year Liberal Arts Institutions • Comprehensive Institutions • Faith Based Institutions • Research Universities • Single Purpose Institutions • Public, Private NFP, and For Profit • Virtual Institutions • AQIP (185) and PEAQ (820) Institutions

  6. The Higher Learning Commission • Established in 1895 • New Mission: 2000 • New Criteria: 2005 (adopted 2003) • Pathways projects “Serving the common good by assuring and advancing the quality of higher learning.”

  7. PEER REVIEW CORPS +/- 1300 MEMBERS Corps Advisory Team Members Consultant-Evaluators Reviewers

  8. Two Primary Purposes • Evaluate, Confirm, and Publicly certify (assure) the quality of the organization • Provide consultation intended for the ongoing quality improvement (advancement) of the organization

  9. Basic Expectations • Professionalism • Competence • Objectivity • Generalist vs. Specialist/Expert

  10. Focus of Accreditation • To assess the quality of an institution and its effectiveness • To assist the institution in making improvements in its operations and effectiveness • To provide mission-driven accreditation

  11. PEAQ Pathway Self-Study Team Visit Decision Making ARC (Readers/Rev. Comm.) IAC Board of Trustees 2-3 years S-S Report Interviews, Evaluation Engagement Exit Session & Rec. 2-part Report Assurance & Advancement Typical is a 10-year reaccreditation decision.

  12. > Maintain Systems Portfolio > Action Project Update AQIP Pathway 1 Strategy Forum > Systems Appraisal > 4 Quality Checkup > Reaffirmation of Accrediation > Cycles of Systematic Quality Improvement 7

  13. Decision-making Board of Trustees Institutional Actions Council (IAC) Accreditation Review Council (ARC) AQIP Reaff. Panel Recs. PEAQ Team Recs.

  14. The Commission has one set of standards: the Criteria for Accreditation The Commission has two Processes leading to Continued accreditation: PEAQ & AQIP All Peer Reviewers must know the Commission’s Criteria for Accreditation and be familiar with the Commission and its work. AQIP Reviewers have an extra package of knowledge to learn. The AQIP process has AQIP Criteria & Principles. The process fulfills the Commission’s Criteria for Accreditation.

  15. Ongoing Relationship Statement of Affiliation Status Annual Institutional Data Update Interim Monitoring Sanction Support Programming & Services

  16. PEAQ and AQIP Paths to improve quality

  17. Complete Physical Fitness Program PEAQ and AQIP Periodic comprehensive evaluation and follow up. Ongoing implementation of improvement activities and processes.

  18. Common elements • Same dues, broad policies • Same annual report (with organizational indicators) • Same fundamental expectations for maintaining accreditation • Same “Federal Compliance Program” expectations • Same Criteria for Accreditation • Consistency in decision-making Process

  19. Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) Goal To infuse the principles and benefits of continuousimprovementinto the culture of colleges and universities in order to assure and advance the quality of highereducation.

  20. 14 Participating Michigan Colleges • Kirtland Community College • Lansing Community College • Mid Michigan Community College • Montcalm Community College • Northwestern Michigan College • Schoolcraft College • West Shore Community College • Bay de Noc Community College • Mott Community College • Delta College • Glen Oaks Community College • Gogebic Community College • Grand Rapids Community College • Jackson Community College

  21. AQIP’s Quality Principles • Focusing on key processes • Basing decisions on data • Decentralizing control • Empowering staff and faculty to make the decisions directly affecting their work • Modeled after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

  22. Other Components of AQIP • Systems thinking: • Way of helping to view systems from a broad perspective that includes seeing overall structures, patterns and cycles in systems, rather than seeing only one specific event in the systems • Help to quickly identify the real causes of issues in organizations and know just where to address them

  23. Other Components of AQIP • Stakeholder focus: • Building relationships with students and other stakeholders • Determining key factors that attract students and lead to student and stakeholder satisfaction, loyalty, student persistence, increased educational services and programs and organizational sustainability • Exceeding customer expectations • Focusing on use of customer complaint data

  24. Principles of High Performance Organizations

  25. AQIP Campus work— • Strategy Forum • Action Projects • Systems Portfolio • Systems Appraisal • Quality Checkup (site visit) • Re-affirmation Annual updates and periodic elements

  26. Action Projects • Provides focus for institutions to work on not more than three pressing projects • Provides finite, concrete place to begin or continue the quality improvement efforts • Provides institutions time to gather data for the Systems Portfolio • Mini-Action Projects (MAPs)

  27. Systems Portfolio • 75-100 page (double-spaced) public portfolio describing fundamental institutional systems • Covers the nine AQIP categories • Created once (gradually through the first four years) and then continually updated • Valuable resource

  28. Maintaining Accreditation • All Commission-accredited colleges and universities must demonstrate they meet the five criteria of accreditation • While AQIP processes for maintaining accredited status differ from those used in PEAQ, the fundamental requirements are the same

  29. Questions?

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