Council for Higher Education Accreditation
National Accreditation Forum

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) announces its first National Accreditation Forum, initiating a national dialogue among leaders in accreditation, higher education, the policy community and the public on the future of accreditation. Our intent is to develop an agenda to enhance public confidence in accreditation and address core issues and concerns at the heart of the accreditation-federal government relationship.

Accreditation and self-regulation of our colleges and universities have been seriously and at times severely challenged during the past several years, both through the to-be-completed reauthorization of the Higher Education Act and the Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education. The challenges go to the heart of the accreditation enterprise and raise fundamental questions about sustaining self-regulation as we know it.

The forum will launch a much-needed national conversation, responding to calls from the academic and accreditation communities, public officials and the policy community to re-examine the role of accreditation and its relationship with government. These gatherings provide an opportunity to be part of the leadership essential to revitalizing self-regulation and strengthening public confidence in our capacity to assure and improve quality. Absent this leadership, we may find ourselves on a path to significant expansion of government control at the price of self-regulation, as outlined in an article that appeared in Inside Higher Ed earlier this year.

The first forum will address such important topics as:

• What is the case for self-regulation through accreditation?
• How do self-regulation and government regulation compare and contrast?
• What are accreditation perspectives on the role of federal recognition?
• What do we want and expect from the accreditation-federal government relationship?

To participate in the forum, please register online or call CHEA at 202.955.6126 by
September 10, 2008. Lunch will be served. A list of area hotels is available here.

Join us for this important event.