Accreditation Review
At its September meeting, the Board of Regents will consider approval of annual accreditation reports for nine programs across the Regents Enterprise. Accreditation reports are vital for providing quality assurance and are required for submission to the Board at regular intervals.
Accreditors are usually external experts in the areas of faculty, curriculum, administrative and student support. Many employers and licensing boards require completion of an accredited program to ensure employees have necessary skills.
The accreditation process often includes site visits, curriculum reviews and other processes to make sure programs are up to standard. Agencies report strengths, weaknesses, concerns and recommendations for programs to follow in order to obtain or retain accreditation. Institutional programs then implement these recommendations in order to attain or retain accredited status.
After the accreditation process is complete, representatives from the institutions submit accreditation reports to the Board for review.
In September, the Board will review updates on reports from the University of Iowa’s programs for Rehabilitation and Counselor Education, Dance, and Counseling Psychology (Ph.D), Iowa State’s Athletic Training, Education Preparation, College of Design and Child Development Lab School programs; and UNI’s Graphic Technology and Speech-Language Pathology programs. All were recommended for full or provisional accreditation status by their respective accreditors.