Accreditation Visit:OMG! What if they ask me a question??

Accreditation Tri-Chairs:• Kelly Irwin• Ginni May • Don Palm

Fall 2015

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OMG! What if they ask me a question??

Questions that will be answered today:What is

accreditation?What is an

accreditation visit?Who will be on the

team?How will the visit

affect my work?What are they

looking for?What might they

ask us?

What is Accreditation?Accreditation provides the recognition that education provided by the college meets acceptable levels of quality. Being accredited tells the public and our students that we meet the standards needed for our graduates to gain admission to other reputable institutions of higher learning or to achieve credentials for professional practice.  It allows SCC to be eligible to offer federal financial aid to students.

ACCJC Accreditation Requirements

Eligibility RequirementsStandardsPolicies

Recommendations can result from accreditation reports or visits.

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Key theme:

Continuous Quality Improvement—how are we using information (data in many forms) to review our processes and improve the college (instruction, student services, and the educational environment)?

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ACCJC Accreditation Standards

Standard I: Institutional Mission and Effectiveness

Standard II: Student Learning Programs and Services

Standard III: Resources

Standard IV: Leadership and Governance

Standard I: Institutional Mission and Effectiveness

Mission◦ Defines our educational purposes, student

populations, etc. (Who are we and what do we do?)

Improving Institutional Effectiveness◦ Using data to plan for improvement

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Standard II: Student Learning Programs and Services

Instructional Programs◦Degrees, certificates, SLOs, etc.

Student Support Services◦Counseling, A&R, FA, Orientation,

Career services, DSPS, EOPS, etc.Library and Learning Support

Services◦Library, tutoring, computer labs,

information competency, etc.

Standard III: Resources

Human Resources◦ Hiring process and policies, determining needed

hires, qualifications of personnel, evaluation of personnel, etc.

Physical Resources◦ Sufficient facilities, evaluation of facilities needs, etc.

Technology Resources◦ Sufficient IT resources, evaluation of IT resource

needs, planning for upgrades, DE resources, etc.

Financial Resources◦ Fiscal stability, financial planning, accurate

information, etc.

Standard IV: Leadership and Governance

Decision-making Roles and Processes◦ Dialogue about college goals, participation in

decision-making, governance roles, evaluation of processes, etc.

Board and Administrative Organization◦ Board of Trustees policies and roles, BoT

ethics and responsibilities, etc.

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What is an accreditation visit?A team of 8 to 13 peer evaluators

visit the college for about 4 days to confirm that the college meets the ERs, Standards, and Commission Policies.

The visit occurs after the team has read the college’s Self Evaluation Report.

The Accreditation VisitBefore the visitDuring the visitAfter the visit

Before the Accreditation VisitThe College:Preparation begins two years before visitSelf evaluation report is sent to the team in advanceVisit is about a week longEvidence is critical

The visiting team:Starts a more than a month before the visitReads the self-evaluation carefullySpends a lot of time on the website Identifies areas of concern and draft

recommendations before they come to the college (they will check on these before making conclusions).

During the Accreditation Visit

Typically, each team member focuses on one or two sections of the standards

They will have a list of whom they want to visit.They will also talk to people who ask to talk

with them.They will look at many kinds of evidence; some

evidence will be provided on paper, some as electronic copies.

They will be thorough and look at more than just examples of documents, plans, etc.

They may visit meetings and classes (face to face and/or DE).

After the Accreditation VisitThe team will recommend and then the Commission will take action to do one of the following:Reaffirm accreditation Reaffirm accreditation with Follow-up reportReaffirm accreditation, Follow-up report & visitDefer a decision on reaffirmation of

accreditationIssue WarningImpose ProbationShow CauseTerminate Accreditation

Reasons for sanction: The most common problems for the colleges on sanction as of Jan 2013 are:

◦ Board roles and responsibilities (17 colleges), ◦ Planning using assessment results (16)◦ Financial management (13).

 The ACCJC Spring 2013 newsletter also notes that deficiencies in the following areas are “emerging reasons for sanction” including:

◦ Student Learning Outcomes (9 colleges)◦ Student Services (7)◦ Employee Evaluation (7)◦ Use of Research for Improvement (7)◦ Mission (7)◦ Miscellaneous HR deficiencies (8)◦ Distance Education (5)

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Who will be on the team?The Chair is usually a

college president or district chancellor.

The team assistant is someone chosen by the Chair to assist the Chair and the team.

The team members consist of administrators, faculty, board members, and occasionally a classified college employee – all from various colleges in the ACCJC regional area.

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How will the visit affect my work?Your work should

carry on as usual.

Team members may come to your work area and ask you questions.

Just another day…

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What are they looking for?Evidence and verification that the

college does what they say they do,

Evidence that the college follows their policies and processes,

Evidence that the college provides quality education and student services,

Evidence that the college meets ERs, Standards, and Commission Policies.

What is evidence?Institutional databases, research reports

and fact booksFaculty and student handbooksCataloguesPolicy statementsProgram review documentsPlanning documentsMinutesSyllabi, course outlines, rubrics and other

class documentsEtc.

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What might they ask us?

…and do we have to provide them with the answer?The team can ask for anything. If you

are unsure of how to respond, let the team member know this, and let them know that you will contact your supervisor, and get back to them ASAP.

College reports to ACCJCMidterm ReportAnnual ReportAnnual Fiscal Report SLO ReportSubstantive Change ProposalsSelf-evaluation Report (This is the

big one)

Key points

Accreditation requirements:◦Must be met at all times.◦Require the college to demonstrate

“organizational effectiveness and educational quality”.

◦Require “systematic assessments” that allow the college to improve.

◦Apply to every college process, action, service and program.

Emerging EmphasesStudent Achievement measuresUse of assessment results in

integrated planningMaking information available to

the public

Measures of student achievement and assessment of learning outcomes:College completion “Quality of graduates” Assessment of course SLOs “Institutionally-set standards” –

course success, Fall to Fall persistence, numbers of degrees and certificates, and number of transfers.

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Use of assessment results in integrated planning: Measures of student

achievement and SLO assessment need to have a clear connection to planning processes.

Making information available to the public:This includes making the

information available ‘one click away’ from the college homepage.

This is aligned with new emphases from the CCCCO and the Federal Government.

Ensuring quality regardless of modality or location:

Student outcomes, student success, services available, etc. should be equivalent for all locations or modalities of a course or program. 

Careful attention to distance education.

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Questions?

Referenceshttp://www2.ed.gov/admins/finaid

/accred/index.html