ACCJC and the Accreditation Process
5
selected on the basis of their professional expertise in higher education, areas of
specialization, and the unique characteristics of the institution being evaluated.
Teams include ten to twelve members representing academics and administrators.
Academics include faculty, deans, division/department chairs, directors, provosts,
vice presidents, and others whose primary professional responsibilities are in
instruction or instructional support. Administrative representatives include chief
executive officers, business officers, administrative vice presidents, directors, and
others in a college or multi-college district/system whose primary responsibility is to
provide general oversight across a college or district/system.
The team examines the Institutional Self Evaluation Report, visits the institution as
assigned, writes an evaluation team report that determines the institution’s
compliance with the Eligibility Requirements, Accreditation Standards, Commission
policies (together Commission’s Standards), and other requirements, makes
recommendations for compliance and improvement, and commends excellent
practice when appropriate. The team also makes a confidential recommendation to
the Commission on the accredited status of the institution.
The evaluation team chair submits its evaluation team report to the ACCJC after
providing an opportunity for the institution’s CEO to correct errors of fact. The
Commission evaluates the Institutional Self Evaluation Report, the evaluation team
report, and the college accreditation history and makes a decision on the accredited
status of the institution. The Commission may also provide the institution with
additional recommendations and direction for improvement. The Commission meets
in January and June of each year and communicates its decisions to the institution via
an electronic action letter and to the public through Commission announcements.
When the institution has received the Commission action letter, it is required to
release and share the evaluation team report, the Institutional Self Evaluation
Report, and the Commission action letter with the college community and the public.
The last and continuous step in the institutional self evaluation is that of
improvement. Each institution is expected to continuously evaluate the quality of its
educational programs and services. The institution should address the
recommendations provided in the evaluation team report and by the Commission in
order to meet the standards, take action to resolve any deficiencies noted, and
sustain the changes made in its policies and practices. The institution should also give
careful consideration to recommendations made to increase institutional
effectiveness (recommendations to improve); as a part of its next comprehensive self
evaluation, the institution should evaluate the manner in which each
recommendation to improve was considered, and what, if anything, was done by the
institution as a result of the recommendation.
Other Reports/Evaluation Visits
The ACCJC requires that the institution submit a Midterm Report in the fourth year
after the evaluation team visit to report on the status of the improvement efforts
related to the Quality Focus Essay from the Self Evaluation Report (see Section 5.3
below) and an analysis of data trends (see Guidelines for Preparing Institutional
Reports to the Commission on the ACCJC website).