An Accredited Learning Organization
An Accredited Learning Organization
by Dr. Chris Hardy
For Defense Acquisition University, getting accredited was more than just a
status symbol. It was a natural progression that drove the integration of
continuous improvement and performance management.
Accreditation is very important to degree-granting colleges and universities.
Prospective students want to know if they are enrolling in an accredited
institution. They want to know if the degree they earn (and pay for) will be
recognized and valued by employers, other academic institutions and society in
general. But what about corporate learning organizations that do not grant
degrees? Can they and should they become accredited?
To better consider that question, let’s look at two definitions of the term
“accreditation” from relevant sources:
1. “Accreditation is a status granted to an institution that meets or exceeds
the stated criteria of educational quality. The purposes of accreditation are to
assess and enhance the educational quality of an institution, to assure
consistency in institutional operations, to promote institutional improvement,
and to provide for public accountability.” – Accrediting Council for Continuing
Education and Training (ACCET) standards handbook
2. “Accreditation is either institutional or programmatic in nature, and it is
intended to assess and enhance the educational quality of either an entire
institution or a specific program of study within an institution. Programmatic
accreditation is an assessment of a particular program of study such as law,
music, or library science offered at an institution. Institutional accreditation
means the entire institution has been assessed, from the governance and
financial stability to the programs of study and student services of that
institution.” – Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS)
Within the higher education community, accrediting agencies, state regulatory
agencies and the U.S. Department of Education all are involved in institutional
oversight. Accrediting agencies are responsible for determining education
quality. State regulatory agencies are responsible for granting the legal
authority for institutions to operate in their states and for
consumer-protection matters.
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) is responsible for determining the
eligibility of institutions to participate in federal assistance programs and
for enforcement of the regulations governing the administration of federal
student assistance programs. In addition, the DOE, using congressionally
mandated criteria, recognizes accrediting agencies to ensure these agencies are,
for the purposes of the Higher Education Act, “reliable authorities regarding
the quality of education or training offered by the institutions or programs
they accredit,” according to the Council of Occupational Education (COE)
standards handbook.
Benefits of accreditation for academic institutions may seem obvious, but is it
really worth expending the time, resources and effort to accredit your learning
organization?
To answer this question, learning leaders not only must understand their
environments, but also must have a need to measure the learning organization
against a set of external standards. Undergoing accreditation involves the
entire organization, and accreditation must become the bedrock of a
comprehensive continuing-improvement program.
For Defense Acquisition University (DAU) – which provides training for the
Department of Defense’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) workforce -
getting accredited was a natural progression integrating continuous improvement
and performance management. Starting with course evaluations, continuing with
benchmarking, growing with sector-leadership award programs and going beyond the
adoption of best practices, DAU finally was ready for its corporate university
programs and processes to be assessed. DAU leaders felt that this would create
and maintain a robust learning environment and institutionalize the
organization’s successes.
Undergoing an accreditation involves the entire team. Everyone must participate
and be on board. The process involves evaluating the whole organization and all
of its key processes. At first, DAU had to socialize the process and benefits to
its faculty and staff, and later to its stakeholders. To accomplish this, the
organization put a communications plan together, which helped DAU’s leadership
think through its strategy for success.
DAU leaders considered five alternatives they felt would best fit their training
mission and would be recognized by the DOE:
1. Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT):
ACCSCT reviews private institutions of higher education and states its purpose
as establishing and maintaining high educational standards and ethical business
practices.
2. Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET): This
organization – founded in 1974 to improve continuing education and training – is
officially recognized by the DOE as a “reliable authority” on the quality of
education and training.
3. Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS): This
institution is primarily responsible for private, post-secondary institutions
offering certificates or diplomas and post-secondary institutions offering
associate, bachelor’s or master’s degrees in programs designed to educate
students for professional, technical or occupational careers. This includes
those offering programs via distance education.
4. Council on Occupational Education (COE): Established in 1971, the council is
a national agency for the accreditation of non-degree-granting and applied
associate degree-granting, post-secondary occupational education institutions.
5. Distance Education Training Council (DETC): This organization is responsible
for schools that only offered instruction by distance education.
DAU selected COE because it seemed to be the best fit for its training
certification mission, its technical workforce and its broader view of learning
and development. Recommendations from other similar organizations also played a
role in this decision.
After a year’s work involving a formal self-assessment and a visit by the
accreditation team, DAU was accredited in 2003. This accreditation and
evaluation process required DAU to meet 11 categories of more than 200
standards, including institutional mission and objectives, educational programs,
institutional outcomes, strategic planning, learning resources, physical
resources, financial resources, human resources, organizational structure,
student services and activities, and distance education.
As a result of its first accreditation review, DAU received the longest approved
accreditation period that COE could issue. Accreditation indicates a corporate
university meets all elements of COE’s requirements for operations, from mission
to continuous improvement. The entire process is comparable to the process an
academic college or university undergoes.
DAU recently went through its second accreditation review and again passed
standards in all 11 areas, as well as being cited with three commendations.
General Benefits of Accreditation
What could accreditation mean in other learning environments? It could be an
opportunity to improve the quality of a learning organization. It could help in
evaluating and comparing courses and programs, facilities and procedures with
those of others. The organization could receive public recognition as an
institution that has met industry-wide standards.
However, the greatest value of accreditation is undergoing the process itself, a
process of self-evaluation and peer review that ensures programs and policies
embody “standards of good practice.”
There are many choices for accreditation. Learning leaders should consider what
type of accreditation program is right for their corporate universities or
learning and development organizations based on organizational priorities.
A typical accreditation process takes one and a half years of preparation and
involves a self-evaluation, comparing programs to established standards and
identifying areas of comparable strength and needed improvement. The results of
the self-evaluation are verified on-site by a team of evaluators and
subsequently by the accreditation authority. An organization must demonstrate it
has met all standards before accreditation is conferred.
DAU’s self-study was accomplished as part of the institutional reaffirmation of
the accreditation process set forth by COE. Compiling the self-study was a
collaborative effort between DAU staff, faculty and leadership, giving the
organization an opportunity to examine the critical processes supporting its
vision of being a premier corporate university serving the AT&L community.
Preparing the self-study also provided DAU with an excellent forum for
identifying areas in which improvement could be made and prioritizing them in
its strategic-planning process. Dr. Sue Stein, action officer for DAU’s COE
accreditation, led the integrated process team that represented a cross section
of the entire university.
in addition to and complementing the COE accreditation program, DAU uses other
sources of standards, such as the International Association for Continuing
Education and Training, American Council on Education and DAU’s market-sector
professional association criteria or sector leadership program.
Leveraging market-sector professional association or sector leadership criteria,
DAU has received many awards as a corporate university. These awards are
standards-based and promote measuring DAU’s performance against nationally
recognized measures of success. Today, DAU is recognized as one of America’s
leading training institutions.
“As we improve our mission-support capability, we are moving toward becoming one
of the best corporate universities recognized inside and outside DOD for
excellence in educations and as a leader in the creation, integration,
dissemination and application of knowledge,” DAU President Frank Anderson said.
“We will continue to actively participate in initiatives to help streamline
processes and incorporate new concepts and technology. DAU’s continuing
involvement in the accreditation process will provide the sense of direction
necessary for the superior attainment of our mission.”
[About the Author: Dr. Chris Hardy is director of the Learning Technology Center
at DAU.]
Regards,
Harvinder
http://harvinderjit.multiply.com
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