Pursuing Michelin in Higher Ed
Accreditation asks whether an institution has the resources and people to do the work, the expertise to do it well, programs that cohere instead of sprawl, a mission that's genuinely its own rather than borrowed from the school down the road, and evidence that it can do all of that again next year, and the year after that. Ingredient quality, mastery of technique, harmony, a distinctive point of view, consistency over time. Essentially, the same five questions; less butter (probably).
Best in Show: Preparing for a Middle States Site Visit
By the time the handler walks into Madison Square Garden, most of the outcome has already been determined. The ring is simply where the work becomes visible to someone else. Your accreditation site visit works the same way. Those two or three days with the evaluation team are the ring. Everything that matters happened before the team arrived.
Higher Ed Shark Week: What’s Lurking Beneath Your Institution?
As higher education accreditation consultants, our job isn't to tell you that the scary things don't exist. It's to tell you which risks are actually likely, so you can spend your energy (and your budget) accordingly. We're the friend on the beach towel next to you saying, "For sure, keep an eye on the water, but you're turning pink." That's where we come in. As higher education accreditation consultants, part of our job is helping institutions worry about the right things. So, in honor of the season, let's look at some worries we hear all the time (especially from new institutions), and what should be worried about instead.
Who Are Accreditors and What Do They Want?
In recent years, accreditation has become a lightning rod in debates over higher education, federal oversight, academic freedom, institutional accountability, and the future of federal financial aid. Like most institutions that have existed for more than a century, accreditation has its flaws. But before deciding whether it should be reformed, replaced, or defended, it’s worth asking a simpler question: Who are accreditors, and what do they actually do?
Why I Love Chairing My Campus Self-Study (Yes, Really)
Higher ed folks hear the word "accreditation" and back off quickly. For most people I worked with, self-study was something you did willingly in the therapist's office, but otherwise fell in the "root canal" or "new transmission for your car" category as something to avoid whenever possible.
Accreditation Is in the Air (And We Will Be Too!)
This week, EduCred Services is heading to Washington D.C., and we are proud to be attending as the Diamond Sponsor of the Centennial Gala and 100th Annual Conference. The institutions we have had the opportunity to work with over the years, many of them members of the DEAC community, have shaped how we think about this work. They've trusted us with their most complicated challenges, let us into their processes, and pushed us to be better consultants.