A System of Information and Evidence: A Theoretical Systematic Review Framework to Explore Evidence of Quality in the Complex American Higher Education Accreditation Context

Abstract

The American higher education accreditation process has evolved to meet the changing environmental demands across the century of its existence. This evolution finds the contemporary accreditation process currently situated in a complex context. This placement has complicated stakeholders’ ability to make sense of the environment, and therefore to make effective decision regarding quality. As a result, the construction of an evidence-based information system may provide the evidence necessary to increase decision effectiveness. This paper explores the construction of a systematic review framework whose outcome is an information system able to increase the effectiveness of decision regarding academic quality system wide.