Accreditation is commonly perceived as a two-sided coin. A major chance for a university to be recognized as an institution that develops quality education and scientific research for a society; or as a risk to be underrated as a higher education institution.
The result of an accreditation process will be related with the institution’s conviction, this is, how a university will assume this process, as an opportunity or as a burden. It isn’t an easy process. These institutions have to face several challenges to achieve it, but so far the higher education global community seems to appreciate it.
As we stated in a previous blog, according to the US Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) President, Judith Eaton, “accreditation has been a very successful enterprise. Colleges and universities in the United States are acknowledged throughout the world as having achieved an extraordinary level of access and degree of quality in both teaching and research.”
What’s more, the (US) Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) stands that accreditation “can provide invaluable feedback on how a program or a school is doing. Even preparing for an accreditation visit has a very positive effect, assuming you believe that the standards being applied make sense and are a gauge of quality.”
The positive evaluation of the accreditation system had motivated universities to develop several benchmarking initiatives around this subject, to share knowledge, experiences, strategies, tactics and best practices. In fact, this last element is one of the most shared knowledge between colleges and universities because they are effective, easy to implement and easy to measure.
First of all, it’s important to identify and separate best practices from other kind of approaches, such as strategies or tactics. The India’s National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) explains that “the practices which add commendable value to an institution and its various stakeholders are the best practices. However, they depend on many variables.
“What we consider to be the ‘best’ educational practice – NAAC adds – depends on our own limited knowledge, perspectives, contexts, interests and values. The interests and values on which the practices are premised may be contested by others.” Among a long list of accreditation best practices – that grows everyday – the following ones are some of the most commonly mentioned by colleges and universities.
The information, the data, the evidences that a higher education institution must collect, organize and show is already inside the campus, in the classrooms. It’s there. Colleges and universities save a lot of time, money and efforts by organizing and managing their data year after year. There are very helpful software solutions that collaborate in these tasks and even provide new approaches to higher education management.
“Most of the general information needed are similar or identical and having one office with this responsibility not only saves time, effort and scarce resources, but also ensures the integrity and consistency of the information provided,” the TIAA institute says.
That’s one side of the ‘get ready’ best practice. Another side is questioning. The TIAA institute adds that “before the preparation process even begins, the process needs to be critiqued very carefully. First and foremost, who is accredited and does the list of accredited schools clearly suggest quality? The smaller the number of schools accredited and the stronger the quality of those schools, the more valuable the accreditation will be.”
“One size does not fit all,” Carnegie Mellon University says. “Individual instructs, departments, and colleges are best suited to determine how best to assess their programs and students; as such, individual programs and courses use different approaches that are appropriate in different contexts for different objectives and goals. In most cases, it is appropriate to use more than one type of assessment, but the tradeoffs of different assessment tools vary across campus.”
“The later an institution starts the process, the more the institution or individuals in an institution display risk taker characteristics, the more likely the process will not work smoothly. Even the best institutions and the best programs are not perfect,” TIAA stands.
“Taking the time to review and assess while there is still time for adjustments is invaluable – TIAA explains – and this is especially true when what needs to be adjusted cannot be done instantly. For example, what if you need more faculty expertise in a particular area? Or what if you need to in any way modify the curriculum? Both take time to be done right and both are part of a collaborative collegial process that works well if adequate time is built in but can become much less pleasant when pursued under the gun.”
“Based on the understanding that students will try to learn only what is assessed, the university focuses assessments on what the institution values – Hanover Research consultant explains. Broadly speaking, Carnegie Mellon values graduates who are resourceful and creative in fluid environments, are leaders and can cooperate in team efforts when that is appropriate. Thus, the university strives to use assessments that are valid for these traits, even if, at first, they are difficult to implement or lack established reliability and validity.
As we previously said, best practices in this area is a never-ending list, which colleges and universities are constantly feeding. Which other best practices could you recommend, according to your experience and knowledge? We invite you to share your ideas.