Accreditation NA, RA and Speciality

I think DETC needs to spin off non-degree granting schools such as the Art Instruction Schools that has those hokey adds on TV. They make DETC look bad to employers and academics in my humble opinion.

I have nothing against such schools but they belong under a different accreditor (maybe a Distant Vocational Teaching Association).

 

Thanks Ian and Bill. Thus far, this has been a civil exchange of information. It is helping me, and hopefully others, better understand what is going on with these processes in accreditation. I agree that the DETC should let some of those art hokey pokey schools go. I don't see how accreditation is beneficial for those types of programs unless you have to take a certification exam or something. Hopefully, with the DETC expanding its scope of accreditation, it will continue to put that agency in the academic world's eye. And, if they would start accrediting some of there better schools at the doctorate level and push that those programs will have to have a set pass rate or lose accreditation for that program. I know Calsouthern has revised their courses to help more students be able to take and pass the bar and the licensures for MFT and Psychologist. Their goal is to increase the number of graduates who pass those exams. I think it is a good thing.

Currently, I am taking a Professional Animal Care Specialist program with the Ashworth College. I am doing this because I own lots of different types of animals and birds. I retire in 6 1/2 years and I want to start wildlife rehabing. I have some experience but wanted to learn more. It has been a rather informative course laid out well. It is geared to I guess folks who do not have a higher education so I am moving like lightening through it. All of the work is online. Folks think I am crazy because I have a doctorate in psych and taking on these courses to help animals. I just love animals. I have several types of chickens, love my Japanese Silkies the best. They are like little puppies. I have geese, ducks, guineas, pheasants, quail, etc. etc. I have rehabed many small animals and birds in the past, especially after hurricanes, with great success.

Now Ashworth's Professional Pharmacy Technology program was excellent. I took that program as a compliment to a course I was taking in psychopharmacology at Calsouthern. It was a great course and the two combined gave me so much information I couldn't believe. It was great. It was a lot of work to do both at one time, but I knuckled down and did it. That was in 2007. I have only taken APA CE credit courses since but recently stated the animal program.

I am one of those nuts who enjoy school and working on projects. I plan on learning new things to the day I die. Sorry for getting off topic. Getting old and verbosity is taking over.

 

That's really interesting Robbie. I love animals as well. I have owned all types of dogs, reptiles and fish. I once adopted a chicken that became friends of a very large Columbian Boa I had. The Boa would not eat this particular chick, and instead they became friends!

I say keep questioning what you are questioning. This is what causes change (Ex. Texas). Keep up your activism and don't give up.

Abner

 

But USDoE recognition does not mean that different agencies "meet the same standards", except in a very general sense. To be recognized by USDoE, accreditors must be regarded by USDoE as:

So DETC is considered a "reliable authority" on DL schools, ACICS is considered a "reliable authority" on technical institutes, the Council on Occupational Education is considered a "reliable authority" on beauty colleges, and the AMA is considered a "reliable authority" on medical schools.

But USDoE recognition doesn't mean that these agencies have anything else in common -- for example, the accreditation standards used by COE to evaluate South Florida Beauty College are not necessarily the same as those used by AMA to evaluate Johns Hopkins Medical School. And so USDoE recognition doesn't mean that these agencies have any obligation or ethical responsibility to mutually recognize each other.

 

Er...

Actually, Robbie, that's not really what I'm driving at. When I wrote,

I was suggesting that it may be a moot issue. From what some AACSB B-school faculty have written here in the past, if AACSB allowed DETC schools to apply, I'm not sure a single one would meet their standards anyway. In other words, what looks like AACSB prejudice from the outside might well be legitimate quality concern from their perspective. Any of the faculty from AACSB schools care to share their perspective?

 

Which ones are you referring to? It appears from the posts above that NASAD, NASM, FIDER, NAAB, JRCERT and CCNE are willing to accredit programs at ACICS schools and Abner tells us that CCNE has accredited a DETC program as well. In addition, there are all the CCE chiropractic colleges and the ACAOM acupuncture schools that rarely have any other accreditations. ATS accredits many stand-alone theological schools. The ABA has accredited several otherwise-unacredited stand-alone law schools and there's one ABET-only engineering school out there.

I agree with Caldog's point about DL-related concerns about delivery of labs, studios and practical classes likely being the reason why specialized accreditations seem to be more common with ACICS than with DETC schools.

I'm not questioning your statement that some of the specialized accreditors will only consider RA schools. I'm just curious about which accreditors those are.

The specialized (or subject-specific) accreditors accredit programs (or occasionally entire stand-alone schools specializing in programs) in particular subjects. The American Bar Association accredits law programs. The National Architecture Accreditation Board accredits architecture programs. The National Association of Schools of Art and Design accredit art and design programs. The American Medical Association accredits medicine and some para-medical specialties. There are nursing accreditors, education accreditors, business accreditors, theological and rabbinical accreditors...

These accreditors often have pretty specific ideas about what subjects they want to see covered in syllabi and about how they want them taught.

I wouldn't really include DETC in that class, since DETC accredits schools teaching any number of widely different subjects, provided only that the schools offer the instruction by distance learning. It's the difference between subject-matter and delivery-medium. It's hard to imagine DETC (or any broad institutional accreditor) being as educated about or alert to the small details of particular programs as accreditors that only exist to accredit programs in that subject.

 

The Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), a CHEA-recognized specialized accreditor for business schools, may be an example. According to the ACBSP accreditation manual:

While ACBSP apparently does not consider NA schools, it is not exactly "RA-only" either, because it does accredit some foreign schools (presumably those deemed RA-equivalent).

 

Sorry for the ignorance here, but what are the standards with NA? My AACSB school is also RA - I sit on both committees, and am not familar with NA.

 

accreditation agencies which state the school has to be regionally accredited if it is the US are the accreditation for MFT, the APA, IACBE, and the ACBSP. There are some others too. But these stand out.

 

If IACBE is picky about the kinds of institutional accreditation that schools need to have, that's perhaps a bit ironic -- given that IACBE currently isn't recognized as an accreditation agency by CHEA or USDoE.

 

I agree CalDog. It is ironic.

 

Hi Han,

NA = Nationally Accredited, such as DETC or TRACS. Just picking one area, if one was to look at a sample DETC school of your choice, would it have the faculty requirements to make the grade with AACSB?

 

aacsb.edu

I’ll post this link and then let others involved in the business field continue discussing the issue if they want. I looked through the standards that AACSB lists and thought they were interesting. They apparently don’t just look at faculty having research doctorates (p. 45ff). They also take into account intellectual contribution within the field, including number of peer-reviewed journal articles, book, research monographs, etc. over a five-year period (p. 25).

 

No, but there are many RA schools that the same would be the case. Not sure if that helps?

 

Basically 90% of the faculty need to be Academically qualified or professionally qualificed (60% AQ requirement). To obtain PQ, you must have a doctorate awarded in your area of teaching, and you get the AQ for 5 years (RA minimum). Then, after the five years, each school has a standard one must meet to maintain the AQ. Typically, it is several peer reviewed journal publications (with some conference, books, and misc. requirements). The level of journal required depends on the school - Harvard has a higher # and standard of journal, then a State University.

So, research is a main component in the AACSB school's criteria for faculty. RA does not have this standard (like UoP, from my understanding has no requriement for their faculty to research and are all adjunct PQ faculty). I am not sure about NA?

 

Actually, that's very helpful, thanks!

 

As far as I can tell, AACSB does not explicitly exclude DETC or other NA schools. However, the requirements for faculty qualifications and research are sufficiently high that is unlikely that NA schools would qualify. In fact, many RA schools would not qualify either, which may explain why there is a second accreditor for RA business schools, ACBSP.

Union Graduate College (formerly the Graduate College of Union University) is is AACSB-accredited. However, this institution has only been RA since 2007; before that, it was NA under the New York State Regents. It is possible that this institution was formerly an NA school in AACSB.

 

Do you know how long they have been AACSB accredited?

 

I just looked it up, Fall 2000. So you are right, if RA just came in 2007.