CHEA report on accreditation of distance education programs

Accreditors Release a Report Saying They Can Evaluate Distance Programs Effectively.

Article from Chronicle. A snippet:

• ... Some accrediting bodies ask online institutions to provide faculty training and to measure learning outcomes -- something traditional institutions are not asked to do. "As distance learning has evolved, so have the standards, policies, procedures, and quality reviews of the accreditors," said Judith S. Eaton, the council's president. "There's no single way to review distance education." The report is meant to answer critics who are afraid of easing two federal financial-aid regulations that affect distance education, she said. ...

I haven't seen the report itself (probably have to pay for it!).

 

Hi,

Having personnel whose work directly affects the quality of the service being provided by the organisaiton concerned properly trained, skilled and experienced is nothing new in the quality assurance world, and indeed has been part of the ISO 9000 Quality Management System structure for the last 15 years.

So, it's rather odd to see that this has just been learned by these people who are supposed to apply "recognised" quality assurance to education.

Maybe there's some hope for them yet, but my guess is they still have a long way to go .......

Actually, I would say there *is* a single way to review distance education - and consistently to every distance educaiton institute across the world: apply the ISO 9000 Quality Management System standard to it.

And then students of DE will have the same sort of benefits available to them that apply clients and customers of organisations that are certified to ISO 9000.

That includes companies such as UPS, Boeing, Rolls Royce, part of the US Air Force - and now even a few educational bodies.

Cheers,

Neil Hynd
ISO 9000 Lead Auditor