Author Archives: Douglas A. Wymer

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”

Why is it so Complicated?!?

I have been in the accreditation arena for a long time, starting with my first SACSCOC annual meeting in 2003 or 2004 and my first On-Site Committee in 2006 or so. In total I have worked at three institutions, visited a dozen or so, and over the past four years consulted with 15 institutions andContinue reading “Why is it so Complicated?!?”

Big (but misplaced?) Changes for SACSCOC Standard 12.6 (Student debt and financial literacy)

There is a new interpretation for Standard 12.6, based on USDOE expectations, that becomes effective in September 2025. Let’s start by figuring out who will be impacted. Based on the President’s Communique from June 2024, the first group of institutions to write to the new interpretation of 12.6 will be the Track B institutions inContinue reading “Big (but misplaced?) Changes for SACSCOC Standard 12.6 (Student debt and financial literacy)”

QEP and Assessment

Sorry this is a bit late, I was caught up in the process of moving my son to the University of Alabama for his freshman year. Move-in on that scale was a well-oiled and impressive machine. I often work with institutions to support the development of the Quality Enhancement Plan. Sometimes as a component ofContinue reading “QEP and Assessment”