News from the Council for Higher Education Accreditation –Summer 2024
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is pleased to share the Summer 2024 edition of CHEA Accreditation Central. CHEA/CIQG supports you—our members—in higher education accreditation. We are committed to serving you; our members, students, and society through advocacy in support of the value of accreditation, institutional autonomy, academic freedom, and commitment to quality in higher education in our best interests.
We are grateful to CHEA President Cynthia Jackson Hammond, Ed.D.; Sharon DeVivo, Ed.D., CHEA Board Member and President and CEO, Vaughn College; Joseph Vibert, Executive Director, Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors; and Jan Friis, CHEA Senior Vice President for Government Affairs, Council for Higher Education Accreditation for their leadership, experience, vision, and insight shared within this edition of Accreditation Central.
President’s Update – Higher Education Accreditation Reinforces the Cornerstones of our Society
Cynthia Jackson Hammond, Ed.D.
President
Council for Higher Education Accreditation
Higher education stands as a cornerstone of our society, driving innovation, fostering critical thinking, and preparing our citizens for the complexities of today’s world. It fuels economic growth by equipping individuals with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in a dynamic and increasingly globalized economy. Additionally, higher education promotes civic engagement and social cohesion, enabling citizens to participate in democratic processes and contribute to their family's and community's well-being.
Despite its importance, higher education accreditation is currently facing significant political challenges. Accreditation ensures that institutions meet rigorous academic standards, providing a reliable benchmark for quality education. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) plays a pivotal role in this process by “accrediting the accreditors.” CHEA's efforts are crucial in maintaining higher education standards, integrity, quality, and academic independence to ensure institutions have the autonomy to inform, innovate, and excel.
CHEA is committed to its advocacy efforts in support of the value and independence of accreditation, recognizing accrediting organizations, and upholding quality standards in higher education. In the face of political aggressiveness, CHEA remains steadfast in its mission to serve its accreditors, members, and society. By championing institutional autonomy, academic freedom, and peer review, CHEA ensures that the accreditation process remains robust and credible in the U.S. and internationally. Our process is resilient, and we are confident in its ability to withstand challenges.
We are grateful for your membership and support as CHEA upholds these critical values. Together, we can reinforce the importance of accreditation, ensuring that higher education remains a beacon of excellence and opportunity for all. CHEA's unwavering commitment to institutional quality and academic standards provides a solid foundation for the future of higher education, benefiting not only individual students but society.
Education is the Only Real Passport Out of Poverty
Sharon B. DeVivo, Ed.D.
CHEA Board Member
President and Chief Executive Officer
Vaughn College
In mid-July, I visited the Shirley Chisholm exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York. She was a tireless advocate and used her voice to challenge the status quo. Chisholm was the first Black woman to serve in the New York State Assembly in the mid-60s, the first Black woman elected to Congress in the late 60s, and the first woman to run for President of the United States in 1972.
During her time in Congress, she served on the Education and Labor Committee and certainly had issues of higher education come before her. She famously said, “Unless we start to fight and defeat the enemies of poverty and racism in our own country and make our talk of equality and opportunity ring true, we are exposed as hypocrites in the eyes of the world when we talk about making other people free.” To make progress, Chisholm believed that “…education is the only real passport out of poverty.”
My hope is that Chisholm would see the progress in the required focus by accreditors, including CHEA, that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) be reflected in our institution’s decision-making. This commitment, even in the face of pushback from states, is a testament to our values. Accreditation is holding fast to the principle that we must be intentional in reflecting DEI in the development of our curricula, services and the allocation of resources.
One of the reasons I belong to CHEA is its commitment to this requirement. As the accreditor of the accreditors, CHEA seeks to maintain high-quality education for every student while assuring the public of the value of standardized peer review. Small institutions like mine need the advocacy, independence, and representation that CHEA provides so that we can continue to serve the nation’s students well.
Programmatic Accreditation and the Public Good
Joseph Vibert
Executive Director
Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors
Programmatic accreditors focus on quality assurance and quality improvement of higher education programs at colleges and universities. Across a wide range of professions, these accreditors play a significant role in serving the public interest by ensuring professional or specialized programs produce competent practitioners in the field or discipline of study.
From healthcare workers to teachers to architects, to name but a few, consumers of their services can be confident that providers have been educated to national quality standards developed with input from subject matter experts in the profession. These subject matter experts or peers include practitioners, educators, employers and industry, professional associations, and other communities of interest.
These peers have knowledge of the profession and contribute to all aspects of the accreditation process, from the development of profession-specific competencies, accreditation standards, and policies to the review and decision-making on programs' accreditation status. Competencies encompass the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for safe and effective practice, as well as critical thinking essential for a changing environment and the evolution of professional practice.
The review and determination of quality education and contributions to the advancement of a profession are most appropriately accomplished by subject matter or content experts – individuals who are actual members of the profession as opposed to administrators or bureaucrats. The inclusive and systematic processes employed by programmatic accreditors are a testament to accreditation's great strength and value.
Government Relations – Department of Education Negotiated Rulemaking Update; House Committee of Education and the Workforce Committee News
Jan Friis
Senior Vice President for Government Affairs
Council for Higher Education Accreditation
The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) held the final round of the Program Integrity and Institutional Quality negotiated rulemaking in March 2024. The notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) has not yet been published.
The NPRM will be published in the Federal Register, allowing stakeholders and the public to provide comments on it. The USDE goal is to publish the final rule by November 1, 2024, with implementation scheduled for July 1, 2025. However, there is information that some issues in the NPRM, such as accreditation and state authorization, may be delayed beyond November 1, 2024. These potential rules may not take effect until July 1, 2026.
A new bill was recently introduced in the House of Representatives called the No Tax Dollars for College Encampments Act. It would make federal accreditation for institutions contingent on having and abiding by rules to stop encampments, campus building takeovers, and other civil disturbances on campuses. The bill would require institutions to disclose their civil disturbance response plans, require better coordination between campus and local law enforcement officials, and link federal funding to policy implementation. Compliance would require monitoring by accrediting organizations.
House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC) will not seek another waiver to remain Chair of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Congressman Burgess Owens (D-UT), Chair of the Higher Education Subcommittee, and Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI), a House Committee on Education and the Workforce member, are running to become the next Chair of the Committee.