Accreditation Team Research Articles

Regional Accreditation Team Members: How They Perceive Their Role and How They Make Decisions

Regional Accreditation Team Members: How They Perceive Their Role and How They Make Decisions

The Role of Faculty on the Accreditation Team

The Role of Faculty on the Accreditation Team

Johnston College: An In-Depth Description of a Successful Experiment

report is an attempt to share, in a very informal and personal way, the innovations which took place and are taking place at Johnston College of the University of Redlands, in hopes that those who are considering such innovations may not have to reinvent the wheel. The description of this experimenting cluster college is written from the point of view of someone working within the system, committed to it and excited about it. I came to Johnston College after having worked and studied at three large universities in California, Ohio, and Mexico and at a small institute in Mexico. My conclusion is that Johnston provides a more human and wellrounded educational environment especially for those people who enjoy interaction with other people and who are at least to some degree creative and self-motivated. Why? First, a greater number of my personal relationships here are more deep (insightful and critical), more positive and more educational than my relationships at other campuses. And here I am able to take a more personal and interdisciplinary approach in the combined roles of administrator, part-time faculty Fellow in Art, and counselor. Such an approach is supported by the first function listed in my job description: Creative Function: to stimulate and develop creative approaches to the question of how we live together as an academic and human community and translate these approaches into effective policy, emphasizing the need for the articulation of new policies [rather] than the maintenance of old. ... Second, judgments of professional, objective groups such as the accreditation team of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the Wright Institute have supported my belief that the experiment is working. Findings of these and other groups will be quoted throughout this report. At the risk of sounding like a typical college bulletin, the following description of the college sketches the physical plant in detail. It is important to realize how much of what happens in residential space both on and off campus either helps or hinders what happens in the Johnston classroom thus the importance of livinglearning at Johnston College.

Committee on Professional Education

Although, for many years, the APHA had collected information annually from the schools of public health, the data had reference in great measure to the accreditation of the schools. Some facts regarding graduates and degrees granted were published as a regular feature of the CPE's report. Two years ago, this collection of data was expanded to include: (a) facts about the schools (such as administration, physical premises, budget, curricula, etc.); and (b) individual cards on both faculty and students. Compilation was made on a trial basis for the year 1958-1959, but certain improvements in the collection of data and methods of tabulation and presentation were subsequently instituted. The use of the IBM system in processing approximately 1,500 faculty cards and 2,000 student cards has facilitated this work, and a comprehensive summary for the year 1959-1960 has been prepared for publication. It is expected that the annual publication of this kind of summary will be possible with, of course, continuing improvements in collection, tabulation, and presentation of results. In the accreditation process, an experiment was inaugurated a year ago in constituting the accreditation team and in shifting the emphasis during the visit. The team is now made up of three persons: the consultant to CPE; a practicing health officer, state or local; and the CPE staff member. The orientation toward "consultation" and away from "inspection" has evoked favorable comments from the schools, as discussions between faculty members and visitors often helped to clarify one or another issue. One of the most valuable aspects of this kind of interchange has been the opportunity for a "field" or "practical" viewpoint to be brought to the academic world and vice versa.