Effect of the New Criteria for Accreditation on Reaffirmation of Accreditation in the South

This study was concerned with characteristics of the process of reaffirmation of accreditation in the Southern region among institutions that completed reaffirmation under the revised _Criteria for Accreditation_ and those that completed reaffirmation under the former _Standards of the College Delegate Assembly._ The institutions that had completed reaffirmation under the new _Criteria_ were identified. A matching group of equivalent institutions which had last completed reaffirmation under the _Standards_ was created. Each group contained 66 institutions. Data were collected using the records of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Four areas were identified in which the implementation of the _Criteria_ might affect the process of reaffirmation of accreditation: (a) institutional organization for the self-study, (b) visiting committee composition, (c) number of recommendations by visiting committees, and (d) substance of recommendations by visiting committees. A series of nine hypotheses were tested to assess these effects. The process of reaffirmation of accreditation does not appear to have been substantially affected by the implementation of the new _Criteria for Accreditation._ Institutional organization for the self-study appears unaffected by the implementation of the Criteria for most institutions. There appears, however, to be evidence that the _Criteria_ have effected change for a minority of institutions. The implementation of the _Criteria for Accreditation_ does not appear to have influenced either the size or the composition of visiting committees of peers. The implementation of the _Criteria for Accreditation_ has not increased the average number of recommendations by visiting committees of peers, but there appears to be evidence that it has created a minimum core of recommendations common to many institutions. The addition of the criterion on institutional effectiveness apparently has created a new and proportionately overrepresented focus for visiting committee recommendations.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc332244
Date05 1900
CreatorsFreeman, Irving
ContributorsSmith, Howard Wellington, McCallon, Earl L., Kingery, Dwane, Newell, Charldean
PublisherNorth Texas State University
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
Formatvi, 117, Text
RightsPublic, Freeman, Irving, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

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