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.
Dust Off Your Documentation: A Spring Cleaning Guide
Reactive maintenance is how you end up with an academic catalog that references a dean who left two years ago and a student handbook that contradicts your syllabus. A little proactive attention goes a long way, and late winter (which, again, we’re rebranding as Early Spring) is a great time to do it before the end-of-semester chaos kicks in and everyone's bandwidth evaporates.
The Practical Guide to Auditing Your College’s or University’s Website
The specifics vary by agency, but the core categories are consistent: student achievement data, accreditation or authorization status, tuition and refund policies, complaint procedures, and, if you offer programs leading to professional licensure, disclosures about whether those programs actually meet state requirements.