Comments to the National Advisory Committee on Quality and Integrity
Vol. 1, No. 8, August 1998
In this issue...
Comments to the National Advisory Committee on Quality and Integrity
Presented by CHEA President, Judith Eaton, on November 21, 1997 in Washington, DC
College Cost Commission Report: Some Comments from CHEA
Comments to the National Advisory Committee on Quality and Integrity
(Presented by Judith Eaton, President, CHEA, November 21, 1997 in Washington, DC)
Thank you and good morning. I will spend a few minutes with you this morning talking about the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), a national organization of private accreditation and quality assurance.
As you recall, the advisory committee heard from Robert Glidden, chair of the board of directors of CHEA and president, Ohio University, at your last meeting in summer 1997. Dr. Glidden informed you of the history and background of CHEA. Today, I will concentrate on the present and the key activities in which CHEA is engaged.
CHEA is intensively engaged in three tasks:
- providing a needed public voice
speaking to the state of quality in higher education - warranting quality
setting expectations for quality primarily through formal recognition of accrediting organizations - providing service to constituents
colleges, universities, accrediting organizations and students
These tasks involve us in many activities: federal relations, advocacy for assuring quality through voluntary accreditation, defining emerging issues (e.g. distance education), developing the first CHEA recognition policy, conferences and meetings, publications, research and policy analysis. These tasks are carried out in a climate made difficult by some critics of private accreditation who view it as
- less than perfect.
We say that there is not a better quality assurance system available and that CHEA is fundamentally committed to it working well. - "conserving" -- some would even say rooted in the past.
CHEA is committed to balancing the best of the past with energetic investment in the future. - less than responsive, with processes that are complex and results that are not well-understood.
CHEA is committed to simplifying process and enhancing public understanding.
CHEA's vision and values are built around:
- clarity of commitment to quality;
- insistence on public accountability;
- focus on results;
- the need for thoughtful change in private accreditation.
We at CHEA see our relationship with you as:
- a public-private partnership working together to meet society's needs;
- built on shared values - our mutual focus on students and society;
- an opportunity to share, from time to time, some concerns.
I want to express one concern today. The committee, of course, advises the secretary of education with regard to recognition standards and the Triad - the responsibilities for quality assurance shared by the federal government, voluntary accreditation and the states. CHEA's concern is with the 1992 amendments to the higher education act that relate to both the standards and the Triad.
As we are aware, 1992 expanded private accreditation's responsibilities: Private accreditation now goes well beyond academic standards such as curriculum and faculty to administrative and fiscal standards such as institutional default rates, tuition and fees, and audit reports.
This is a concern for two reasons:
- CHEA believes that accreditation organizations have limited resources. These need to be used efficiently and effectively. Private accreditation's primary business is assuring academic quality. To go beyond this primary business in a major way is to produce inefficiency in the voluntary accreditation process.
- CHEA believes that the other parts of the Triad are already charged to carry out these administrative and fiscal oversight responsibilities. This results in duplication of effort between the federal government and voluntary accreditation.
Our message about this concern today is, as you advise the secretary, to:
- keep private accreditation resources invested in what it does best: focused on academic standards, not administrative standards;
- work together to avoid both inefficiency and duplication; and
- acknowledge that this is essential for the Triad to work well.
I hope this brief commentary on CHEA's tasks and activities, the difficult climate that is challenging private accreditation, and the relationship of cooperation and shared values we want to sustain with you is useful to you.
Thank you for your attention.
College Cost Commission Report:
Some Comments from CHEA
The National Commission on the Cost of Higher Education released its final report, Straight Talk about College Costs and Prices, presenting its analysis and an important challenge to American higher education. The report will contribute to a better public understanding of issues of college costs, and it will enrich the public policy dialogue leading to the reauthorization later this year of the Higher Education Act. The report puts forward a five part action agenda for cost controls, information, deregulation, improved student aid, and most significantly for CHEA, an effort to "rethink accreditation."
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation was created in late 1996 to reform and strengthen voluntary accreditation, and we welcome this report. As the Commission members observed, "accreditation is an honored and essential part of higher education" which assures the public and provides accountability.
Beyond affirmation, the Commission goes on to urge "rethinking" in several important ways that are already at the heart of the CHEA agenda and that are the new thrust of many of its member accreditation organizations. Emphasis on achievement measures, and a corresponding de-emphasis on resources, are well under way in many of the associations. Significant progress has been made on the coordination of self-studies and site visits of regional and specialized accreditation organizations. The recommended expansion of cost containment activities with the accreditation process could be salutary, so long as it does not overly distort the fundamental mission of assessment of educational quality. CHEA also agrees with the Commission in its recommendation for stronger accountability without imposing a single standard that could impede institutional diversity.
Straight Talk about College Costs and Prices will expand public interest in strengthening accreditation. CHEA welcomes expansion of these debates. We intend for these debates to lead to a better and more accountable system of accreditation. The Commission's work has made an important contribution to this goal.
In Brief
Nominating Committee for CHEA Board Elections
The CHEA Board of Directors approved the following individuals to serve on the Committee for Board Elections: William DeLauder, President, Delaware State University and chair of the nominating committee; Zelema Harris, President, Parkland College; Ed Donley, former Chairman, Air Products and Chemicals Inc.; John Casteen, President, The University of Virginia; Blenda Wilson, President, California State University-Northridge; Brother Patrick Ellis, President, The Catholic University of America (DC); Adriana Barrera, President, El Paso Community College; R. Kirby Godsey, President, Mercer University (GA); and Frances Horvath, Dean, School of Allied Health Professions, Saint Louis University. The committee met in February and ballots will be distributed in March.
Specialized/Professional/National Association Advisory Panel Members
The CHEA Board of Directors approved the following members for this panel: Kayem Dunn, Director, Foundation for Interior Design Education Research; Lawrence Detmer, Director, Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs; Olive Kimball, Executive Director, National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Science; Bernard Fryshman, Executive Vice President, Association of Advanced Rabbinical and Talmudic Schools; Carl Monk, Executive Vice President, Association of American Law Schools; and George Peterson, Executive Director, Accrediting Board of Engineering and Technology, Inc.
Upcoming Events
CHEA Board of Directors Meeting and Annual Meeting
May 3-4, 1998, Washington, DC.
The "Chicago II" Conference -- Enhancing the Usefulness of Accreditation
June 25-26, 1998, Washington, DC
New Staff
Please welcome Monica Chestnut, our new office manager. Monica comes to CHEA with an extensive background of working with Washington-based organizations, including Cities in Schools, the Children's Defense Fund, and the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy Commission on Accreditation.