New DETC Discussion

You are putting the cart before the horse. Unless a future DETC medical school gets around the practical skills part of the program, I don't see it happening.

 

What I hear you saying is that DETC isn't up to the task of accrediting degrees in some professions, because of the highly-interactive nature of certain skill acquisition in the relatively low-bandwidth world of our current Internet. Is that your point?

 

I never said DETC isn't up to the task. That is your argument.

 

Even with the occassional veering off track, there are some terrific ideas here (bravo Bill and Rich). As one who oversees the academic side of the virtual campus of an RA brick & mortar university, I can think of no reason at all why I would consider seeking accreditation from the DETC. I have nothing particular against the DETC or national accreditation (in fact, I sit on the Advisory Council of an ACICS accredited school), but DETC offers nothing unique for a program like mine.

My regional accrediting body (SACS-COC) has recently adopted a comprehensive set of assessment guidelines for distance education. The DETC's accreditation process really does not provide anything new or value-added. Affiliation and recognition by other distance learning organizations, such as the USDLA or Sloan-C may have more value to us than DETC.

Since the debate about first professional degrees (JD, MD, etc.) has reared its head again, let me just say that while these degrees do not require a research dissertation/project as the culminating activity (and therefore are not considered research doctorates), they are universally accepted in higher education as equivalent to the doctoral-level credential for the professorate. This is just as true for JD holders who teach outside of the law school. Many are professors who teach business law, justice studies and sociology and other fields). They are allowed to be addressed by the title "doctor" and receive the equivalent pay as a PhD. In my 23 years working in higher ed institutions, I have never seen an exception to this practice.