I was recently having a conversation with an institution President and a member of that institution’s Board and the President indicated that a reaffirmation “brings an institution to its knees.” I have thought about that statement quite a bit since then and, though I did not voice it then, I stick with my first thoughtContinue reading “How Difficult is Accreditation?”
Author Archives: Douglas A. Wymer
Where will accreditation go next?
Well, we got through SACSCOC Section 6 in the “Permissive or Proscriptive” series and then we got Dr. Pruitt’s First 100 Day Plan presentation and it does not seem to be worth the time to continue the series. This is probably a good thing. To quote one of my favorite songs, “We can all useContinue reading “Where will accreditation go next?”
Proscriptive or permissive? SACSCOC Section 6
There is a bunch to unpack in the faculty standards and these usually represent quite a challenge for institutions as the case for compliance is built. Let’s look at these one by one. 6.1 Full-time faculty–This core requirement is focused on the institution’s mission and needs a narrative that shows that the institution has enoughContinue reading “Proscriptive or permissive? SACSCOC Section 6”
Proscriptive or Permissive? SACSCOC Section 5
Getting back to this series, until our next interruption. Section 5 is focused on how an institution is assembled and how the executive leadership is structured. 5.1 (Chief Executive Officer): Proscriptive. Each institution needs a CEO who’s primary duty is to further the mission and objectives of the institution. There is room for some creativityContinue reading “Proscriptive or Permissive? SACSCOC Section 5”
A New Accreditor in the East?
It seems that the permissive/proscriptive walk through the SACSCOC standards will be interrupted again as we unpack what little has been shared about the efforts of the University Systems of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee to form a new accreditor. Note that this list of systems comes from Inside Higher Ed. TheContinue reading “A New Accreditor in the East?”
Proscriptive or Permissive? SACSCOC sections 1-4
Two months ago I promised to get started on this series, but we all got distracted by, well, something. As we get deeper into the standards we won’t combine quite so many sections into one post, but these first four are easily handled together. Section 1 (Integrity): Proscriptive. You either act with integrity or youContinue reading “Proscriptive or Permissive? SACSCOC sections 1-4”
Executive Order 14279
So the last entry promised a section-by-section look at the SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation focusing on proscriptive and flexible elements. I’ll get to that, but it is timely to look at Executive Order 14279 Reforming Accreditation To Strengthen Higher Education. Many smart people have written about this so I will add my voice for thoseContinue reading “Executive Order 14279”
Do you find the accreditation standards to be proscriptive or permissive?
Over the past five years I have had the opportunity to work with almost 20 different institutions on various projects related to accreditation and the answer to this question from my clients has gone both ways. Most of my work is in the SACSCOC region so I will focus on the Principles of Accreditation, butContinue reading “Do you find the accreditation standards to be proscriptive or permissive?”
Who wants more faculty?
I know I have been bad at keeping the blog up-to-date. I usually miss December due to the SACSCOC annual meeting and then the holiday break, but I also missed January. Apologies. Anyway, I have spent considerable time with clients recently working on the SACSCOC faculty sufficiency standards (6.1 Full-time faculty and 6.2.b Program faculty).Continue reading “Who wants more faculty?”
QEP Themes
I recently spent some time looking at the SACSCOC Class of 2024 Track A QEP summaries for a couple of reasons. Some of my clients are asking about recommendations for lead evaluators and others are in the early stages of development and may benefit from looking at approved projects. Anyway, I noticed some themes. Career/Job/ProfessionalContinue reading “QEP Themes”