Accreditation of Educational Institutions - Essay Example

 Accreditation of Educational Institutions Introduction Accreditation is a bilateral process of a standardized educational design between a recognized educational institution and an accreditation agency. With this definition it can be recommended that accreditation requires fulfillment of desirable features of the institution as read by the norms of the agency with acute care for improvised learning methodology applied in the operation of academic affairs of the institute. Majority of accreditation agencies look forward to encouraging the self study patterns employed in member colleges and schools where they expect better outcome of intellect after the process involving effective training, standard educational environment and quality levels of examinations. The agencies are expected to monitor the affairs of the educational institute and allot them membership by accreditation and evaluate the process of educational plans being executed by the member institute over a given period of its membership validity (Mora, 2004, p.437,). Accreditation agencies are of the view that human abilities are to be enhanced with independent learning strategy along with theoretical knowledge invested into their brains. They set standards of recognition and identity criteria for each member college with a view to cater the needs of students, who are mostly of creditable brilliance and partly employed. Banks and educational authorities at higher levels take feedback from the accreditation agencies for promoting the initiatives of each member college and forward proceedings for fund allotment and scholarship support to students as needed. Once the evaluation is on the onset, the educational institutions are accountable for their operative activities to the agency as it is the negotiator between the institution and the ultimate higher authorities. International Principles & CHEA A search for the best known accreditation agency in the world ends at Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) of America. Accreditation of colleges and other educational organizations can be easier with the application of some basic principles as set approved by CHEA. The CHEA principles are aimed at regulating the standards of all member colleges with the norms of CHEA. Principle.1 deals with considerations and actions for accreditation of non-US institutions and programs in other countries. Principle.2 considers the expectation for conduct of US accreditation reviews of non-US institutions and their programs in another country. The third principle speaks on the gravity of accreditation expectation of Providers of US online and Web-based Instruction and programs exporting to another country. The fourth principle, as such, regulates responsibilities of US accreditors working with non-US institutions and programs to students and colleagues in another country (Recognition of Accrediting Organizations Policy Procedures). Basic institution of all these principles helps the monitoring of accreditation process running well with the participation of all member units in the organized structure under CHEA. This system of administrative theme helps students and colleges gain benefit from various ways. They stay connected with the agency and get alerted on regular updates of academic patterns and legal suggestions related to changing trends in academy. These principles work for the rights of students on international language selection, scholarship terms and research centre choices. They also enable students and colleges to communicate easily with chancellors of different universities and formulate uniform standards of regular assignments and examination patterns. In short, CHEA performs three major functions such as ‘government relations, recognition of accrediting organizations, and membership services’ (Harcleroad, & Eaton, 2006, p.268). The above principles are considered as the general norms for accreditations councils across the world with a balanced equation for allocation of provisions according to different socio-educational and economical conditions of representative regions. Challenges and Issues of Accreditation in America Accreditation and related issues have been in place of debate in the senate in order to finalize a justified design of institutional recognition of education in the country. Provincial discrimination of some of the groups among the Western zones claims for the exemption of ancient universities from international principles. Western Association for Schools and Colleges (WASC)’s suggestion for advancement of educational policies based on provinces was put forth by a team of professors at Stanford University as reply for an argument as to whether the accrediting agency should have authority to regulate diversity in staff selection and promotional standards for evaluating standards of universities. But the President’s appeal was to hold the breath and work for the betterment of standards of colleges in the country. He was of the view that “A clear expectation of the accrediting process should be that teaching effectives is as importance as any other factor in hiring and promoting faculty who are expected to teach” (Stanford News Release). Finally, the regulatory authorities have decided to follow the government directions to include Stanford under accreditation frame. Decentralization of accreditation authority is observed as a possible threat to diversity in region-based education standards. National levels of expected educational equality should not be posed by any movement of the educational authorities of the country; such dissimilarity in educational standards will seriously affect the productivity of the intellectual inventory of the country. Better aspects of accreditation The meaning of accreditation implies a regulatory system functioning for the wellbeing of educational institutions with standardized stream of schooling on par with international educational requirements. Students from various backgrounds find it difficult to attain information related to the relevance of the university and their possibilities of getting recognized in the employment market after their successful tenure of education. Moreover as Hauptman (2003) states, accreditation of the institution is the only support for students to attain financial aid from the government ( p.190). Defective system of monitoring also impairs students of their rights to admissions, recognition, counseling and all other student services. Online education and part-timers are the greatest stakeholders among America’s educational community. Due to undisclosed reason, many institutions arrange temporary set up to deceive the panel inspection committee and obtain accreditation with all status to raise fees. After a scheduled time of monitoring the conditions deteriorates and the students are literally abstained from minimum desirable standards of education. Conclusion A productive group of new generation depends largely on the quality of education achieved through all available means of higher studies. Employers usually sought the quality of educational background of an aspirant only based on the position of the university in the list of accreditation. But with the changing trend, practice-based class room atmosphere reflects much in the standards of performance and many a student are sidelined with reasons not pertaining to their knowledge. Legitimacy of the institution adds to the value of certificates possessed by the student. Therefore each student is entitled to know where to join and what to study for his future prospects. In this regard, a uniform board of accreditation would help every student attain equal competency and chances for excellence in his career. References Recognition of Accrediting Organizations Policy and Procedures. (2010). Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Retrieved 17 Dec 2010 from http://www.chea.org/pdf/Recognition_Policy-June_28_2010-FINAL.pdf Hauptman, A. (2003). Reforming Student Financial Aid: Issues and alternatives. In the book, Tertiary Education in Colombia: Paving the way for reform. US: World Bank Publications. Harcleroad, F. F. & Eaton, J. S. (2005). The Hidden Hand: External constituencies and their impact. Chapter 9, In the book American higher education in the twenty-first century: social, political, and economic challenges. (Eds.) P. G. Altbach, R. O. Berdahl & P. J. Gumport. (2005). US: Johns Hopkins University Press. Mora, J. G. A Decade of Quality Assurance in Spanish Universities. In the book Accreditation and evaluation in the European higher education area. (Eds).S. Schwarz & D. F. Westerheijden. (2004). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherlands. Stanford News Release. (2004). Senate, President Oppose Regional Accrediting Agency. Stanford University News Service. Retrieved 17 Dec 2010 from http://news.stanford.edu/pr/94/940208Arc4458.html Read More