Description:
This volume offers insight into U.S. accreditation--its history,values, advantages, benefits, and challenges--and in so doingrespond to recent critiques. They remind us that it is imperativefor accrediting commissions and institutions to take steps toaddress the legitimate concerns raised about the ability ofaccreditation to function effectively and efficiently and to meetthe needs not only of institutions, but of prospective students andtheir families, and they outline suggestions for how this might bedone. Chapters discuss: Accreditation in the United States: How Did We Get to Where WeAre?Accreditation's Benefits for Individuals and InstitutionsA College President's Defense of AccreditationThe Impact of the Changing Climate for Accreditation on theIndividual College or University: Five Trends and TheirImplicationsAn Accreditation Dilemma: The Tension Between ProgramAccountability and Program Improvement in the ProgrammaticAccreditationAccreditation Systems in Japan and the United States: AComparative Perspective on Governmental InvolvementAccreditation in the United StatesMusings ont he Future of AccreditationAccreditation has long been regarded as an effective mechanismthrough which to assure and improve the quality of highereducation, and it has long been accepted as a fact of life forcolleges and universities. Although campus chief executive offersmight occasionally bemoan the cost or the effort associated withaccreditation reviews, they have also been quick to realize thebenefits of the process. With the convening of the Commission on the Future of HigherEducation (commonly referrred to as the Spellings Commission) in2005, however, accreditation has come under attack. Critics ofaccreditation have argued that accreditation no longer servesinstitutions or the general public well. They have castigatedaccrediting commissions for emphasizing inuts over outcomes asmeasures of quality, for being insufficiently transparent abouttheir processes, and for providing inadequate information tostudents and their families and to members of the generalpublic.This volume is an invaluable resource for institutions facingthe accreditation process. It is the 145th volume of theJossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for HigherEducation. Addressed to presidents, vice presidents, deans,and other higher education decision makers on all kinds ofcampuses, New Directions for Higher Educationprovides timely information and authoritative advice about majorissues and administrative problems confronting everyinstitution.
