1999 CHEA Annual Conference (News from CHEA)
In this issue...
1999 CHEA Annual Conference
More than 300 college and university presidents, administrators, and faculty members, leaders of accrediting organizations and higher education associations, and federal and state officials crowded the hallways and meeting rooms of the San Diego Marriot Hotel & Marina from January 31, 1999, to February 2, 1999, at the second annual conference of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
With its strong lineup of speakers and presenters and its theme of “Quality Indicators and Distance Learning,” the meeting drew more than twice as many participants as the first CHEA conference, held a year earlier in Phoenix.
Utah Governor Michael O. Leavitt, a leading force behind the creation of the Western Governors University (WGU), presented a generally upbeat view of the future of distance learning in his opening keynote address. Linking the need for expanded access to post-secondary education to changes in the economy and growing international competition, Leavitt stressed the importance of finding ways to both maintain quality in distance offerings and measure the “outcomes” of courses and programs.
Leavitt also asserted that the distinction between education and training will become less meaningful, if not disappear entirely, as both students and employers take advantage of the flex-ibility offered by distance learning to assemble the knowledge and skills demanded by the market.
At a plenary roundtable chaired by Jane Wellman, Senior Associate at the Institute for Higher Education Policy, Ohio University President and former CHEA Board Chair Robert B. Glidden, Carol Schneider, President of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and United States Department of Education Senior Policy Analyst Clifford Adelman debated the challenge posed by distance learning to notions of curricular quality, the learning experiences expected of students seeking a degree, and the role of faculty.
Schneider questioned whether distance programs can provide the kind of “rounded” experience needed to educate students in democratic values and practices. Adelman noted that accreditors must confront a range of issues related to curriculum, delivery systems, and support spaces and services in assessing the quality of distance courses and programs. Glidden argued that traditional institutions seeking to move into the distance learning field must actively encourage faculty members to participate, provide them adequate support, and reward them for their efforts.
Changes in the faculty role also were addressed by the conference’s concluding speaker, Sir John Daniel, Vice Chancellor of the Open University. Tracing the evolution of his institution, which is opening a United States branch and has entered into an alliance with WGU, Daniel observed that designing and operating distance courses and programs requires teams of experts. As a result, faculty members operate as knowledge specialists, compared with the generalist role they play in traditional institutions where they typically handle all aspects of course presentation and administration. Judging by the longevity of faculty service at the Open University, he said, most find this change both exciting and rewarding.
The conference also featured many concurrent sessions covering a wide range of topics related to distance learning.
“The conference brought together a substantial number of people from various sectors who share a concern about the future of higher education and the impact of distance learning,” said CHEA President Judith S. Eaton. “CHEA will continue to play an important role in the debate over quality assurance in this rapidly growing arena.”
CHEA Board of Directors
At their January 31, 1999 meeting, the CHEA Board of Directors took the following actions:
- Appointed Dr. Piedad Robertson, Superintendent/President of Santa Monica College, to the CHEA board effective February 1999 (Class of 2001). Dr. Robertson replaces Dr. Jacquelyn Belcher, President of Georgia Perimeter College, who resigned in September 1998.
- Approved the appointment of nine individuals to serve on the CHEA Committee on Recognition effective February 1999. They are: Roger Blunt, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Blunt Enterprises; Constance M. Carroll, President, San Diego Mesa College; Ron Cowell, President, The Education Policy and Leadership Center and former State Representative and Chair, House Committee on Education, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; Lawrence (Mac) Detmer, former Executive Director, Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs; Brother Patrick Ellis, former President, Catholic University of America; John C. Petersen, Director Emeritus, Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges; George D. Peterson, Executive Director, Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc.; Shirley Peterson, President, Hood College; Mary Ann Swain, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Binghamton University-SUNY.
- Approved the reappointment of the 1998 nominating committee to serve as the 1999 nominating committee for the CHEA board of directors. The members of the 1999 nominating committee are: William DeLauder, Chair, President, Delaware State University; Adriana Barrera; John Casteen, III, President, University of Virginia; Edward Donley, former Chairman, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.; Brother Patrick Ellis, former President, Catholic University of America; R. Kirbey Godsey, President, Mercer University; Zelema Harris, President, Parkland College; Frances L. Horvath, M.D., Dean, School of Allied Health Professions, Saint Louis University; Blenda Wilson, President, California State University-Northridge.
Direct Billing Pilot
This year CHEA begins a major financial changeover: collection of CHEA dues by the eight regional accrediting commissions from its 3,100 member institutions will give way to CHEA's direct billing of member colleges and universities.
CHEA has developed a 1999 pilot direct billing project with the Northwest Association Commission on Colleges. Working with Sandra Elman, Executive Director of the Northwest Association, CHEA will test direct billing with the 152 members of the Northwest Association Commission on Colleges during late Spring 1999 to collect dues for 1999-2000. Judith Eaton, CHEA's President, met with the Commission at its meeting in Seattle on December 10, 1998, and reviewed plans for the pilot project.
All 3,100 CHEA institutional members will be billed directly in late Spring 2000 for 2000-2001 dues. CHEA dues will remain at the level established by the Board of Directors in 1996. No dues increase is contemplated at this time.