CHEA 2001 Annual Conference
The Many Dimensions of Quality Assurance
Preliminary Program
January 22-24, 2001 • Hotel Inter-Continental New Orleans, LA

Click here to download the CHEA 2001 Conference Preliminary Program and registration forms (pdf format).
For additional information, contact CHEA at (202) 955-6126.

Monday • January 22

6:00 pm
CHEA Board of Directors Reception
All conference participants are cordially invited.


Tuesday • January 23

7:30 - 9:00 am
Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 - 10:00 am
Opening Plenary Session
State of American Higher Education: Focus on Quality

10:00 - 10:15 am
Break

10:15 - 11:45 am
Morning Group Sessions

Session 1
Evidence of Student Achievement and Institutional Performance: Are Institutions, Programs and Accreditors Ready to Take the Next Step?
What role does accreditation review play in the development of evidence of student achievement in institutions and programs? What role do institutions and programs play? How do we expand our capacity to develop and use this evidence? How might the CHEA Competency Standards Project assist in developing evidence of student achievement?

Session 2
Federal Policy Issues, Accreditation and Quality Assurance
What are the present and emerging issues for federal policy and accreditation? What role are accreditors playing in addressing transfer of credits, the Distance Education Demonstration Program and availability of student aid for distance learning? What additional strategies might accreditors and Washington-based higher education associations consider to further strengthen self-regulation?

Session 3
International Quality Review: The Challenge to Accreditors, Educators and Quality Assurance Leaders
In what ways can quality assurance and accrediting organizations working together inform each other about the quality of institutions and programs in various countries? Does distance learning create a de factointernational environment for all higher education providers? In what ways? What does the 1999 CHEA survey of participating accreditors tell us about U.S. accreditors and international quality review?

Session 4
What Do Faculty Expect Accreditors To Do About Distance Learning?
What is the role of faculty as distance learning expands in higher education? Is it changing? If so, how? What do faculty expect accreditors to do about distance learning? How can faculty and accreditors work more closely in assuring quality in distance learning?

12:00 noon - 1:30 pm
Plenary Luncheon and Discussion
International Quality Assurance

1:30 - 2:00 pm
Break

2:00 - 3:30 pm
Afternoon Group Sessions

Session 1
Portals, Platforms, and Distributed Learning: Changing the Map of Higher Education
In what ways are "new providers" redefining higher education? How are traditional institutions and programs working with these new providers? Has the map of higher education changed significantly? If so, how?

Session 2
Presidents' Panel: What Do Presidents Expect of Regional, National and Specialized Accreditation?
In what ways can presidents become more involved in accreditation? What are the major complaints that presidents have about accreditation? How would presidents resolve the complaints?

Session 3
Regional Accreditation and Distance Learning
How will the newly developed regional accreditation guidelines for distance learning address assuring quality of online degrees, programs and courses? What are future challenges for regional accreditors as distance learning becomes a more significant feature of degree-granting institutions?

Session 4
States and Accreditation: Who's Doing What?
In what ways do the states rely on accreditation for assuring quality in higher education? Are states and accreditors prepared to protect students in a distance learning environment? What are they doing and what do they need to do?

3:30 - 3:45 pm
Break

3:45 - 4:45 pm
Recognition Session

6:00 - 7:30 pm
CHEA Reception


Wednesday • January 24

7:30 - 9:00 am
Breakfast with CHEA: An Update of Recent CHEA Activities

9:00 - 10:00 am
Morning Plenary Panel
Focus on Change: New Providers, Distance Learning, For-Profit Education

10:00 - 10:15 am
Break

10:15 - 11:45 am
Morning Group Sessions

Session 1
External Quality Review: The Work of Certification Boards, Third-Party Evaluators and Ranking Services
What are the major features of certification, third-party evaluations and ranking systems? How do the military and corporations evaluate quality? What, if anything, do the various types of external quality review have in common? What do accreditors learn from these alternatives?

Session 2
Distance Learning and Specialized Accreditation: What Are the Major Challenges for Programmatic Accreditors?
Are specialized accreditors using existing accreditation standards to examine distance learning programs? Are they developing new standards? What do we know about the extent to which distance delivery is being employed in accredited programs? What advice about distance learning are specialized accreditors sharing with the programs they review?

Session 3
Trustees and Accreditation
What do trustees know about accreditation and how do they learn more about accreditation review? What role should trustees play in accreditation reviews and on accreditation teams? What do presidents think about an expanded role for trustees in accreditation? How can trustees help when governance issues become a focus of accreditation concerns?

Session 4
Regional, National and Specialized Accreditors: What Do We All Have In Common?
What common issues confront all accreditors? How can identification of common issues lead to common solutions? How might national, regional and specialized accreditors work more closely together?

12:00 - 2:30 pm
Afternoon Plenary Luncheon
Federal Policy: A View from a Different Place

2:30 pm
Closing Comments

The CHEA 2001 Conference Preliminary Program (including both the Conference Registration Form and Hotel Registration Form) is available in Portable Document Format (PDF) for convenient viewing through your web browser or immediate download to your computer. This file was created with Adobe Acrobat and is compatible with Windows, Macintosh, or Unix-based computers. In order to view and print this issue, download the freeAcrobat Reader appropriate for your computer system from Adobe Systems Incorporated and follow the installation procedures.