SPEC Kit 330: Library Contribution to Accreditation (September 2012)
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SPEC Kit 330: Library Contribution to Accreditation · 11 Executive Summary Introduction According to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, “Accreditation in higher education is a collegial process of self-review and peer review for [the] improvement of academic quality and pub- lic accountability of institutions and programs.”1 Accreditation is a cyclic endeavor, generally involv- ing five steps: 1) a self-study, 2) a site visit by peers, 3) a follow-up report, 4) a pronouncement by the ac- crediting agency on whether to accredit the program or institution, and 5) a mid-term report and review. At the end of the term, the process cycle begins again. Within the boundaries of this formula there is po- tential for great variation in the standards by which institutions or programs are measured. Institutions have the flexibility to establish their missions, set goals, and explain how they achieve them. Accreditors are moving away from inputs-based measures to out- comes-based measures. As a result, guidelines and standards are less prescriptive. The purpose of this survey was to identify the scope of accreditation standards and the data provid- ed by libraries to meet the requirements of accrediting bodies. The results may help libraries identify and understand what standards exist, and how their con- tributions lead to successful accreditation and reac- creditation for their parent institutions. Additionally, this survey sought to identify how deeply ARL librar- ies are involved in the accreditation process at the institutional level. As libraries strive to establish their impact and value in higher education, this measure is one way to gauge how institutional leaders perceive their libraries’ contributions. Forty-one of the 115 aca- demic ARL member libraries (36 US and 5 Canadian) responded to the survey between March 26 and April 30 for a response rate of 37%. Regional and Programmatic Accrediting Agencies There are six regional accrediting agencies in the United States. Canadian accreditation is done at the provincial rather than the federal level. Each of the responding US institutions is a member of one of the six regional agencies. The distribution of respondents’ membership in a regional accrediting agency is shown in Table 1 below. Table 1. Respondents’ and Institutions’ Membership in Regional Accrediting Agencies Regional Agency Survey Respondents Agency’s ARL Members
% North Central (NCA-HMC) 12 32 38% Southern (SACSCOC) 9 24 38% Middle States (MSCHE) 7 20 35% Northwest (NWCCU) 3 5 60% Western (WASC) 3 9 33% New England (NEASC- CIHE) 2 9 22% Canadian 5 16 31% TOTAL 41 115 37%