For an institution of higher education to actually give real degrees (not the fake one’s that are supposedly available for sale on the Internet), in the United States, it must be accredited. Accreditation is a long complex process whereby regional organizations sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Education review and site visit the university and eventually make a decision whether to re-accredit…or not. Our accrediting organization is the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
Accreditation is very process-driven. From learning goals, to rubrics, all the way to evaluation of the terminal degrees for teaching faculty the institution must provide evidence that higher education is actually being provided to students according to well-defined standards. This evidence-based approach, is critical to maintaining the quality of a U.S. college diploma both in terms of international standards, but also in the context of how a degree adds value over the course of a career to an individual graduate.
But there are concerns. One is that the process is regional. The standards in one part of the U.S. may vary significantly from those in another region. Another is that, over time, the process of accreditation can assume an ever increasing portion of an institution’s collective efforts, displacing energies that perhaps ought to have been expended on education itself. These latter concerns have produced a lively debate (for an example look here).
In any case, George Mason, is now deeply into the accreditation process. It’s a good time to, both look hard at the University, but also to think about what accreditation actually means.
Jim
Discoverers and Discoveries 