2011-2012 Annual Report of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation - Addressing the Challenges, Preparing for the Future

2011-2012 Annual Report of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
2011-2012: Addressing the Challenges, Preparing for the Future
In 2011-2012, CHEA activities ranged from the work accomplished during the final year of the CHEA Initiative, government affairs work with Congress and the Administration to recognition of accrediting organizations. CHEA also continued to serve as “Accreditation Central,” an outstanding source of national-level information on accreditation, as well as expanded the organization’s international engagement. The result was a year of significant accomplishment for CHEA on behalf of its 3,000 member colleges and universities.
The CHEA Initiative
2011-2012 was the final year of the CHEA Initiative, an unprecedented national conversation engaging 2,500 colleagues around the country on the future of accreditation. The Initiative was launched by CHEA in 2008 to build consensus for action on the issues of greatest importance to the accreditation and higher education communities in advance of the anticipated reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) in 2013 or thereafter.
Deliberation by the CHEA Initiative’s participants resulted in near unanimity about the two goals of the Initiative: the need to further enhance accountability within accreditation and to work to sustain an appropriate balance in the accreditation-federal government relationship.
Based on the results of the CHEA Initiative, the CHEA Board of Directors approved actions addressing the major issues that emerged in the discussions as most important to participants. These included restating and reframing the division of responsibilities between government and accreditation, initiating an accreditation advocacy campaign and developing a CHEA International Quality Group (see below).
During this period, the CHEA Initiative hosted five CEO/CAO Roundtables with member institutions, met with 22 accrediting commissions, held eight National Accreditation Fora and conducted a student focus group for a total of 36 meetings.
Government Affairs
Through its government affairs activities at the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and the U.S. Congress, as well as with state legislatures, CHEA works to address legislative and regulatory issues of key importance to higher education accreditation.
A major focus in 2011-2012 was the review and report outlining accreditation policy recommendations carried out by the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), USDE’s advisory body on recognition of accrediting organizations. This report was requested by USDE Secretary Arne Duncan to examine “what is working and not working” in the current system of recognition and accreditation. CHEA President Judith Eaton testified at the committee’s December 15, 2011 meeting to discuss the draft policy report. CHEA also provided comments to NACIQI and coordinated two letters from the accreditation community, submitted on November 23, 2011 and on March 16, 2012.
CHEA played a role in developing H.R. 2117, a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on February 28, 2012 to repeal USDE’s regulations that establish a federal definition of credit hour. CHEA made the case that defining the credit hour is the primary responsibility of the academy, not government. The bill also repealed new requirements for state authorization, which CHEA opposed as burdensome and unworkable. Additionally, CHEA supported a companion bill in the U.S. Senate, S. 1297. The House bill was passed and the Senate bill remained in committee as of June 30, 2012.
CHEA also continued to support legislation to combat degree mills and accreditation mills and to reduce and prevent the sale and use of fraudulent degrees in order to protect the integrity of valid higher education degrees. While H.R. 1758, (the “Diploma and Accreditation Integrity Act”) was not passed in 2011-2012, CHEA shared the bill with governors and attorneys general in various states as an example of effective legislation addressing degree mills and making their operation more difficult.
International Activities
CHEA President Judith Eaton participated in a number of international meetings and conferences throughout 2011-2012, including addressing a conference in Erbil, Iraq, hosted by the International Institute of Education, in conjunction with the Iraqi Scholar Rescue Fund and the Center for International Partnerships in Higher Education, on standards in quality assurance and accreditation and served as keynote speaker at the annual conference of the Alliance of Universities for Democracy held in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Eaton also served as a member of the Quality Assurance Council of the University Grants Committee in Hong Kong.
As part of its ongoing international activity, CHEA also provided information on U.S. accreditation to delegations from nations around the world. In 2011-2012, CHEA staff made presentations on U.S. accreditation and recognition to international visitors from countries including Afghanistan, China, Finland, Iraq, Japan, Kenya, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia and Trinidad and Tobago.
The CHEA 2012 International Seminar, held January 26-27, in conjunction with the CHEA 2012 Annual Conference, drew participants from 28 countries and addressed issues related to international quality assurance and the role of accreditation.
During 2011-2012, the CHEA Board of Directors approved the establishment of a CHEA International Quality Group (CIQG) to bring together people, ideas and resources from around the world to support institutions and accrediting or quality assurance organizations in tackling tough issues such as defining quality, addressing rankings and combating degree mills and accreditation mills. The CIQG will be launched in 2012-2013.
CHEA Recognition of Accrediting Organizations
CHEA has been engaged in recognition of accrediting organizations since 1999. This review involves scrutiny of their activities to determine whether accreditors meet standards in CHEA’s recognition policy. CHEA-recognized accrediting organizations undergo a review every ten years, at a minimum.
During 2011-2012, the CHEA Committee on Recognition conducted 11 reviews of accrediting organizations seeking eligibility for CHEA recognition and 16 reviews of organizations seeking recognition. The committee also acted to defer recognition of five accrediting organizations and received seven special reports. In all, 31 accrediting organizations came before the committee during the year, some of these on more than one occasion. Some of these accrediting organizations were seeking CHEA recognition for the first time; others previously have been recognized by CHEA.
CHEA continued to expand information on accreditation that is readily available and accessible to the public, placing summaries of recognition decisions and the reasons for those decisions on the CHEA Website and distributing this information by email.
CHEA Conferences and Meetings
Each year, CHEA conferences and meetings bring together hundreds of participants from across the United States and around the world to hear speakers, discuss ideas and exchange information on vital issues for higher education accreditation and international quality assurance.
The CHEA 2012 Annual Conference, held January 23-26 in Washington, DC, featured speakers from government, higher education institutions and accrediting organizations, including Under Secretary of Education Martha Kanter and a panel composed of NACIQI  Chair Jamienne Studley and NACIQI members Susan Phillips and Cameron Staples. The annual conference also included the eighth and final National Accreditation Forum that has been part of the work of the CHEA Initiative.
The CHEA 2012 Summer Workshop was held June 21-22 in Washington, DC. Participants heard remarks from speakers representing colleges, universities, accrediting organizations and government, including Assistant Secretary of Education Eduardo Ochoa and Joshua Kim, Director of Learning and Technology at Dartmouth College’s Master of Health Care Delivery Science Programs addressing the emerging issue of Massive Open Online Courses.
The CHEA Award
The CHEA Award for Outstanding Institutional Practice in Student Learning Outcomes annually recognizes institutions and programs for their outstanding practice in gathering information on student learning outcomes and using this information for institutional improvement. This information is then provided to the public to help other institutions and programs seeking to make gains in this important area.
This year, the 2012 CHEA Award was presented to the Georgia Institute of Technology (GA), Rio Salado College (AZ) and the University of California, Merced (CA).
CHEA also launched Effective Institutional Practice in Student Learning Outcomes: CHEA Award Recipients, an online publication with information on each of the 25 institutions and programs that have received the CHEA Award since it was established in 2005.
Keeping Members and the Public Informed
As “Accreditation Central” – a repository of national-level information about accreditation practice, policy and politics – CHEA serves as an unsurpassed resource of information on accreditation for member institutions, accrediting organizations, higher education associations and the public.
The CHEA Website provides a wealth of descriptive and analytic information on higher education accreditation and quality assurance worldwide. CHEA’s Federal Update provides in-depth material on activities by the U.S. Congress and USDE, while Inside Accreditation offers thoughtful analysis by CHEA President Judith Eaton on issues related to accreditation. In 2011-2012, CHEA issued publications including Accreditation and Accountability: Looking Back and Looking Ahead and Quality Assurance in the Twenty-First Century and the Role of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, designed to examine higher education accreditation and the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Since its launch in 2003, the CHEA Database of Institutions and Programs Accredited by Recognized United States Accrediting Organizations has served as an indispensable information resource, listing more than 8,200 degree-granting and non-degree-granting institutions and more than 20,400 programs (as of June 30,2012). The Database is visited nearly a million times each year by students, parents, employers and others seeking information on the accredited status of institutions and programs throughout the country.
Looking Ahead
In the year ahead, CHEA will continue its leadership and advocacy for accreditation. CHEA will work to provide information and assistance to Congress, USDE and the states on accreditation related issues. A particular focus for CHEA will be preparing for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, expected to begin in 2013 or thereafter.
With the conclusion of the CHEA Initiative, CHEA will focus on the implementation of an action plan to address key issues and provide progress on the two major goals of the Initiative: to enhance accountability in accreditation and to sustain a balance and distinction between accountability to the federal government and the academic work of accreditation.
The Committee on Recognition will continue its work as approximately 30 additional accrediting organizations seek initial CHEA recognition.
CHEA’s focus on quality assurance internationally is expanding with the launch of the CIQG in 2012-2013. The year’s activities will include the first CIQG Annual Meeting and members-only publications including the newsletter Quality International.
CHEA will continue to provide leadership and advocacy on the issues, challenges and opportunities facing higher education accreditation and quality assurance, in the United States and around the world.
Download the Annual Report of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.