Accreditation Updates

Happy New Year!  It is my pleasure to be writing to you as the new chair of the Accreditation Commission.  As I begin my term, I want to offer my thanks and appreciation to Randy Hall, the former chair of the Accreditation Commission, for his work on Accreditation for the last 13 years, and I also want to acknowledge the great work of the Accreditation Commissioners, without whom none of what we do would be possible.  Thank you to everyone! 

There is a lot going on in the world of Accreditation and I hope that this article will serve to highlight a few things for you related to the implementation of changes as a result of our USDE review.  

• If you have not yet seen it, please visit the ACPE Accreditation and the US Department of Education page in SharePoint.  This page will give you an overview of what is going on, what changes are being made, and what else is in process.  In an effort aimed at transparency, we are sharing everything that is “in progress” as well as that which is completed.  We know that this can be messy at times, but we feel it important to keep everyone as informed as possible. 
• Please be sure to view the Substantive Updates to the New Accreditation Manual page.  This page will provide links to those items in the manual that have been updated/changed as of January 2, 2023, and should be updated in your portfolio materials. 
• Programs that are undergoing a 6-Year Review in 2023 should pay special attention to the updates page, as you are responsible to update your materials to reflect these changes and they will be included in your site visit assessment. 
• A draft of the revised and enhanced Outcomes and Indicators will be shared with the membership in early February.  These Outcomes and Indicators will guide as we continue to develop the expectations for measuring student achievement.  The Outcomes Work Group has done incredible work over the past several years and this represents a wonderful step forward that will greatly enhance our educational process. 
• A revised Dashboard for 2023 will be uploaded into your portfolio over the next two weeks.  The new dashboard asks for some additional information that will help us with data collection related to student enrollment and headcounts and it also reflects the changes to satellites and components that have been implemented.  On the dashboard, we are asking for two numbers:  
  • Total number of students who completed a unit in 2022 (headcount of students, not unit count) 
  • Individual unit enrollment for units in 2023 
• The Accreditation Commission is excited to welcome new commissioners.  If your commissioner has changed, you will soon be receiving an email from the new commissioner introducing themselves to you, but until then, remember that you can look at the Program Review Cycle page in SharePoint and you will see your assigned commissioner’s name. 

Going forward, please continue to read the newsletter, as I plan to provide additional updates as things develop.  

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your assigned commissioner, to me, Marc, or Kimberly in the ACPE office if you have questions.  We are here to work with you and to support the great work that you are doing!