SACS Reaffirmation of Accreditation
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Welcome to the University of North Alabama’s website for reaffirmation of accreditation by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). This website provides links to resources that will guide UNA’s reaffirmation process.
Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)
According to the SACS website:
The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is the regional body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states. The Commission’s mission is the enhancement of educational quality throughout the region, and it strives to improve the effectiveness of institutions by ensuring that institutions meet standards established by the higher education community that address the needs of society and students. 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 and Latin America and other international sites approved by the Commission on Colleges that award associate, baccalaureate, master’s, or doctoral degrees. The Commission also accepts applications from other international institutions of higher education.
Accreditation by the Commission on Colleges signifies that the institution (1) has a mission appropriate to higher education, (2) has resources, programs, and services sufficient to accomplish and sustain that mission, and (3) maintains clearly specified educational objectives that are consistent with its mission and appropriate to the degrees it offers, and that indicate whether it is successful in achieving its stated objectives.
The University of North Alabama is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor’s, master’s, and education specialist degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of the University of North Alabama.
UNA’s Road to SACS Reaffirmation
The University of North Alabama was initially accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1934. UNA was last reaffirmed by SACS in 2002 and is scheduled for its next reaffirmation review in 2012. To gain renewal of SACS accreditation involves a multi-year process guided by the Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement and by the policies and procedures of the Commission on Colleges (COC).
The reaffirmation process has changed considerably since UNA’s 2002 review. The current process requires the University to create two primary documents. The first, documenting compliance with the Principles, will be submitted to SACS by September 2011. This report will be reviewed by an Off-Site Review Committee in November 2011. Additionally, the process now requires the University to create a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), a carefully developed multi-year blueprint for actively improving some specific aspect of student learning at UNA. The QEP, which is due six weeks prior to the on-campus visit, becomes the focus of the On-Site Review Committee slated to visit the campus in the spring of 2012.
SACS requirements touch all aspects of the University’s program. For more information about UNA’s SACS Reaffirmation process, contact Ms. Celia Reynolds, SACS Reaffirmation Director (256-765-4625), or e-mail SACS@una.edu.
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