1. Accreditation 101 STEVEN SHEELEY, PHD VICE PRESIDENT – SACSCOC GACRAO NOVEMBER 2, 2015

2. Overview Regional, National, Specialized Accreditation SACSCOC Reaffirmation process Applicable standards Areas of emphasis Q/A

3. Accreditation – USA Regional Accreditors ◦Seven Regionals (eight Commissions) ◦Comprehensive, institutional accreditors National Accreditors ◦Comprehensive, institutional accreditors ◦Usually defined by career/faith mission Specialized Accreditors ◦Programmatic ◦May be comprehensive, as well (ATS, ABA, LCME)

4. Degree “Levels” Based on highest degree offered ◦I – Associates Degree ◦II – Baccalaureate ◦III – Masters Degree ◦IV – Specialists Degree ◦V – Three or fewer Doctorates ◦VI – More than three Doctorates Level Change

5. SACSCOC Process Off-Site Reaffirmation Committee ◦Compliance Certification ◦Cluster of like institutions On-Site Reaffirmation Committee ◦Focused Report ◦Quality Enhancement Plan ◦Campus visit SACSCOC Board of Trustees Substantive Change!

6. Getting Information Every member institution is assigned to a SACSCOC VP www.sacscoc.org – click on the state for list of member institutions in that state to find relevant accreditation informationwww.sacscoc.org Every institution assigns an IALO – communication with the SACSCOC VP and other offices

7. Core Requirement 2.7.x 2.7.1 (Program length) ◦Minimum number of semester credit hours for degrees ◦Unit, rather than credit hour 2.7.2 (Program content) ◦Coherent course of study based on appropriate academic fields 2.7.3 (General education) ◦Substantial…breadth of knowledge…coherent rationale 2.7.4 (Course work for degrees) ◦All course work for at least one degree at each level ◦Exception

8. CS 3.3.1 (Institutional effectiveness) CS 3.3.1.2 (IE: administrative support services) The institution… ◦Identifies expected outcomes ◦Assesses the extent to which it achieves ◦Provides evidence of improvement based on analysis of assessment data

9. Maybe? CS 3.4.1 (Academic program approval) ◦“…each educational program…approved by the faculty and administration. CS 3.4.3 (Admissions polices) ◦…publishes admissions policies that are consistent with its mission CS 3.5.2 (Institutional credits for a degree) ◦“At least 25% of the credit hours…earned through instruction….” CS 3.6.3 (Institutional credits for a graduate degree) ◦“At least one-third of credits…earned through instruction….”

10. Probably CS 3.9.1 (Student rights) ◦…publishes a clear and appropriate statement of student rights and responsibilities and disseminates the statement to the campus community CS 3.9.2 (Student records) ◦…protects the security, confidentiality, and integrity of student records…. FR 4.3 (Publication of policies) ◦“…makes available to students and the public current academic calendars, grading policies….” FR 4.8.2 (Distance and correspondence education) ◦“…has a written procedure for protecting the privacy of students….” FR 4.8.3 (Distance and correspondence education) ◦“…has a written procedure distributed at the time of registration or enrollment that notifies students of any projected additional student charges associated with verification of student identity.” FR 4.9 (Definition of credit hours) ◦“…has policies and procedures for determining the credit hours awarded for courses and programs that conform….”

11. Certainly CS 3.4.4 (Acceptance of academic credit) ◦…publishes policies that include criteria for evaluating, awarding, and accepting credit…. ◦…assumes responsibility for academic quality of any course work or credit recorded on the institution’s transcript CS 3.4.6 (Practices for awarding credit) ◦“…employs sound and acceptable practices for determining the amount and level of credit awarded….” CS 3.4.8 (Noncredit to credit) ◦“…awards credit for course work…only when there is documentation that the non-credit coursework is equivalent….” CS 3.5.3 (Undergraduate program requirements) ◦“…publishes requirements for its undergraduate programs….” CS 3.6.4 (Post-baccalaureate program requirements) ◦“…defines and publishes requirements for its graduate and post-baccalaureate programs.”

12. Certainly - Policies Quality and Integrity of the Undergraduate Degree ◦Transfer courses unbundled and recorded individually on transcript – clearly identified as transfer with institution name ◦Receiving institution responsible for quality of all courses taken in transfer Advertising, Student Recruitment, and Representation of Accredited Status Publications ◦Accreditation statement Institutional Obligations for Public Disclosure ◦“…complete, accurate, timely, accessible, clear, and sufficient.” ◦Archival catalogs

13. On the Radar Records Retention ◦Maintaining “official” nature of document ◦Clear policies and procedures Reverse Transfer ◦National Student Clearinghouse project ◦Transmission and receipt of official transcript ◦Appropriateness of courses accepted toward credential Dual Credit ◦College control of curriculum, faculty, admissions ◦Faculty qualifications and integration into College’s ethos Transcript – Official Record of coursework leading to the degree/credential

15. Steven M. Sheeley, PhD Vice President SACSCOC 1866 Southern Lane Decatur, GA 30033 ssheeley@sacscoc.org