Using Accreditation to Advance Institutional Strategy and Student Success

December 4, 2025

HEADLINES

Using Accreditation to Advance Institutional Strategy and Student Success, Insights from CHEA: Changing Higher Ed Podcast 288 with Host Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Guest Dr. Nasser Paydar (The Change Leader, Dec 2, 2025) In this episode of Changing Higher Ed, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Dr. Nasser Paydar, about how institutions can use accreditation to strengthen strategy, rebuild trust, and improve student success during one of the most consequential periods for higher education oversight.

Louisiana Higher Ed Task Force Says Yes to Joining New Accreditation Agency (Campus Reform, November 24, 2025) Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry created the Higher Education Reform Task Force in July, intending to reorient the state’s higher education away from DEI and to seek membership in the Commission for Public Higher Education.

Since then, the task force has met three times and voted on Nov. 13 in favor of joining the new accreditation agency.

Two More UNC System Campuses Join New Accreditor (The Assembly, November 20, 2025) Appalachian State and North Carolina Central Universities have applied to join the Commission for Public Higher Education, the nascent accrediting agency formed by a consortium of Southeastern public-university systems. They’ll be among 10 institutions that will test the agency’s standards and processes as it seeks to earn federal approval by 2027.

U.S. Department of Education Announces Five Appointments to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (ed.com, November 25, 2025) U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon appointed five new members to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), including higher education experts Robert Eitel, Joshua Figueira, Dr. Jay Greene, and Dr. Steven Taylor, and Emilee Reynolds, the student representative. These knowledgeable appointees will serve a six-year term and take on a pivotal role in assessing the process of accreditation and the institutional eligibility and certification of institutions of higher education.