The American Business Journal: SACS

SACS
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admin on 27 January, 2010 01:28:00
 
Over the past century, the Southern Association for Colleges and Schools (SACS)
has been a strong advocate for quality education through its dedicated work in
both the secondary and college division.
Founded in 1895, SACS accredits over 13,000 schools and school systems
throughout the United States and overseas. SACS’ College Commission is an
accreditation division of AdvancED, which is a parent organization of the North
Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Im­provement (NCA
CASI) and the National Study of School Evaluation (NSSE).
The division dedicated to post-secondary education, entitled the Commission on
Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and School, is the regional
body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in
the Southern states. The Commission strives to enhance the educational quality
throughout the region and improves the effectiveness of institutions by ensuring
that institutions meet standards established by the higher education community
that address the needs of society and students.
SACS has grown to include historically black colleges and universities,
community and tech­nical colleges, private institutions and for-profit
institutions. It serves as the common denomina­tor of shared values and
practices among the diverse institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas,
Virginia, Latin America and other international sites approved by the Commission
on Colleges that award asso­ciate, baccalaureate, masters, or doctoral
de­grees. The Commission also accepts applications from other international
institutions of higher education.
Focus on post-secondary education
The Commission is one of the divisions of the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools. It has a 77-member board elected by the 800 member institutions. Of
those 800, 13 are elect­ed members who serve as the Executive
Commit­tee. There are approximately 38 full time staff and over 4,000 peer
reviewers and volunteers in the evaluator registry.
Because the Commission is a membership-based organization, revenues are
generated from dues, attendance at the annual meeting and Summer Institute, the
sale of publications and a variety of fees for services. The members are
col­leges and universities in the 11 southern states from Texas to Virginia,
Latin America and an in­stitution in Dubai. They are concerned about the
assessment of student learning and the continu­ous improvement of the
academic enterprise.
Technology
Since its inception, the association has adapted to various changes in the field
of education. “The Internet and computer technologies have impact­ed
the classroom, from distance learning to ad­ministrative functions like
online registration and other business functions,” says Belle S. Wheelan,
President of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on
Colleges.
The Commission has reduced the costs as­sociated to the storing of paper
reports by up­loading them into electronic files. “We provide programs
that allow Committee reports to be organized into an electronic file prior to
visits as well as allowing institutions to submit reports to us
electronically,” says Wheelan.
In addition to accrediting post-secondary institutions, SACS is a strong
advocate for qual­ity education. “We do this through ensuring that
institutions comply with the requirements in the principles of accreditation,
attending meetings with other accreditors, participating in the federal process
of negotiated rulemaking, presentations at national and regional
meetings,” explains Wheelan.
SACS will continue to assist institutions in ensuring that they are able to
provide students with the necessary tools to be successful. In the future, the
association will also work on improv­ing their members’ overall use of
technology for the betterment of the students. AB
www.sacscoc.org