Rubrics That Stick the Landing: Lessons from Olympic Scoring
When the inevitable challenge arrives, the meticulous, defensible standards embedded in your rubrics will be the most effective advocates for student achievement, faculty equity, and the integrity of your degrees. A well-designed rubric provides the most effective mechanism for achieving transparency, protecting instructional consistency, and affirming academic standards. Let's break down what that looks like, Olympic style.
It's a Wonderful Life (in Compliance)
You're filing reports, chasing down documentation, explaining state authorization requirements to people who would rather talk about literally anything else, and making sure the institution doesn't accidentally enroll students from states where you're not authorized to operate. It's not glamorous. And on the hard days, it's easy to wonder: Does any of this actually matter? It does. More than you know.
Do You Need a Mock Site Visit? (Yes.)
We want your mock site visit to end in applause (metaphorically—though, hey, if an evaluator does clap, let it happen). A mock visit is your best bet for making that happen. Before the reviewers arrive, give yourself the gift of a dress rehearsal. Find the weak spots while you can still fix them. Discover your star performers before the stakes are real. And walk into your site visit with the kind of confidence that only comes from having already done it once.
How Not to Write a Syllabus (and What to Do Instead)
The syllabus isn’t your annual report. It’s not a compliance memo. And it’s definitely not a legal deposition written in passive voice. It’s a guide for your students (actual human beings), many of whom are trying to make sense of a new class, a new semester, and, in some cases, a whole new life direction.
Weddings, Rubrics, and IEPs: Falling in Love with Institutional Effectiveness
At its heart, a strong IEP is your institution’s way of saying “I do”—to accountability, to continuous improvement, and to the students and communities you serve. And like any good marriage, the commitment doesn’t end with the ceremony. It’s something you show up for, work on, and grow through, year after year, ‘til death (or retirement) do you part.
8 Things No One Tells You About Accreditation (But We Will)
Whether you’re a seasoned administrator or someone who got voluntold to help with the self-study, understanding how accreditation actually works and what it really means for your institution is crucial. And while there’s no shortage of formal definitions and policy handbooks out there, there’s a lot that tends to go unsaid. That’s where we come in. Today, we're sharing 8 things no one tells you about accreditation (but we absolutely will).