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California AAUP conference members

Resources on Accreditation

 AAUP Policy Statements, Reports, & Analysis

The Role of the Faculty in the Accrediting of Colleges and Universities. (.pdf)

Accreditation and Academic Freedom: An American Association of University Professors – Council for Higher Education Accreditation Advisory Statement. (.pdf) 2012. In early 2012, CHEA and AAUP agreed to work together to address the issue of academic freedom and the role of accreditation. CHEA and AAUP brought together a small of accrediting organizations, members of the AAUP Committee on Accreditation and others to develop an advisory statement. The advisory statement has been approved both by the CHEA Board of Directors and the AAUP Committee on Accreditation. The statement provides guidance to CHEA institutional members, recognized accrediting organizations and AAUP members. 

Faculty Involvement in Accreditation: Three Reports.  Academe. March-April 2008. The first two of the reports that follow were prepared by a joint subcommittee of the Association’s Committee on Accreditation and Committee on College and University Governance and approved for publication by the two parent committees. The third report was approved for publication by the Committee on Contingent Faculty and the Profession.

 

Greg Gilbert urges faculty to participate actively in accreditation work to the ultimate benefit of their institutions, the students, and the academic profession. [.doc]

Academe: Magazine of the AAUP

Opinions expressed in Academe's contributed feature articles and reviews are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the policies of the AAUP.

Column

Faculty Forum: The Spellings Commission. March-April 2007. By James E. Perley.

Feature Articles & News

Accreditation and the Federal Future of Higher Education. September-October 2010. By Judith S. Eaton.

Accreditation Fatigue. May-June 2009. By Benjamin Baez. Faculty Forum. 

Critic Appointed to Accreditation Review Panel. July-August 2007. By Gwendolyn Bradley. Nota Bene.

Auburn Removed from Probation by Accreditor. March-April 2005. By Gwendolyn Bradley. Nota Bene.

If Football Referees Made Accreditation Calls: A Modest Proposal. September-October 2004. By Robert R. Appleson.

Group Issues Accreditation Fact Sheets.  November-December 2003. Nota Bene.

Evangelical College Granted Accreditation on Appeal. March-April 2003.Nota Bene.

Accreditor Rejects Evangelical College. September-October 2002. Nota Bene.

Accrediting Bodies Draft Distance Education Guidelines. January-February. 2001. Nota Bene.

Other AAUP Resources

 “The Faculty’s Role in Accreditation” (.ppt) was presented by Greg Gilbert, an English professor at Copper Mountain College in Joshua Tree, California at the 2010 AAUP Summer Institute. The presentation considers the diminishing role of faculty in higher education decision making, the decrease in tenure rates, and the lack of faculty on regional accreditation commissions. Against this backdrop, the presentation tells the story of the Copper Mountain College faculty and their efforts to seek assistance from the State Chancellor/Board of Governors and the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, in order to advocate for compliance with the minimum educational standards provided under California law.  The presentation argues that faculty must enforce accountability in order to serve the interests of local institutional missions, and should not hesitate to seek support from regional accreditors and other external entities. 

Keynote address to the Middle States Association. December 6, 2004.  By Roger Bowen, AAUP General Secretary.

Letter to Members of Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. April 13, 2004. By Committee on Accreditation chair Rodger Govea and Government Relations Committee chair Gerald Turkel.   

Letter to Members of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. April 13, 2004. By Committee on Accreditation chair Rodger Govea and Government Relations Committee chair Gerald Turkel.

Other Resources

Accrediting Agencies Joint Statement on Accrediting Distance Education Programs.  2000. Tthe six regional bodies got together to recommend a set of principles for the accreditation of distance education programs.

Accreditation Standards

In most cases, the accreditation standards and procedures used by each regional body can be found on their Web sites, as follows:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
Commission on Higher Education
Jean Avnet Morse, Executive Director
http://www.msche.org

New England Association of Schools and Colleges
Commission on Institutions of Higher Education
Charles M. Cook, Director
http://www.neasc.org

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
The Higher Learning Commission
Steven D. Crow, Executive Director
http://www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org

Northwest Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities
Commission on Colleges and Universities
Sandra E. Elman, Executive Director
http://www.nwccu.org/

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Commission on Colleges
James T. Rogers, Executive Director
http://www.sacscoc.org

(Western region operates as two separate commissions):
Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges
Barbara A. Beno, Executive Director
http://www.accjc.org

Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities
Ralph A. Wolff, Executive Director
http://www.wascsenior.org/wasc

Council for Higher Education Accreditation: www.chea.org

U.S. Department of Education, accreditation page: www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred

(updated 9/10)

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