Training Magazine - June 2008 - (Page 16)

soapbox and practitioners should care about academic accreditation to ensure these programs are well-conceived, are current, have qualified faculty, present up-to-date content, and operate according to sound academic principles. Accreditation is additional assurance, a seal of quality to ensure adherence to standards of excellence. For individuals, investing time and money in an accredited program is well worth it because it indicates an investment in an academic program that has pursued excellence in readily identifiable ways. For employers hiring graduates from academic programs, accreditation is an additional symbol to indicate the quality of the candidates. WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF ACADEMIC ACCREDITATION? WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE DISADVANTAGES? 1. Well-respected and well-run programs may not be able to qualify—due to lack of funding or academic politics—for accreditation. 2. The standards for excellence on which such programs are based may not be well-advised or correlate to quality instruction. HOW WOULD AN ACCREDITATION PROGRAM WORK? A 2002 research study of 122 academic deans and chairs of business schools shows accreditation has clear advantages. According to R. Roller and B. Andrews in “Specialized accreditation of business schools: A comparison of alternative cost, benefits, CATEGORY OF STANDARDS The Human Resource Development Accreditation Association (www.hrdaa.org) standards categories: • Preconditions - (Higher Learning Commission or appropriate regional accreditation body) • Mission and Objectives • Faculty Composition and Development • Curriculum Content and Evaluation • Instructional Resources and Responsibilities • Students • Intellectual Contributions and motivation,” Journal of Education for Business, March and April 2003, respondents to the study said that accreditation of business schools leads to: 1. Accountability for program improvement 2. Opportunities to share techniques/success/ challenges with other institutions facing similar issues 3. Marketing advantages 4. Faculty recruitment advantages 5. Recognition as a superior (elite) institution 6. Increased bargaining leverage for university resources 7. Increased bargaining leverage for faculty compensation These perceived advantages put programs in the field on an equal footing with MBA programs and teacher certification programs that demand attention from academic decision-makers. 16 An accreditation program starts with a statement of standards. An independent association, the Human Resource Development Accreditation Association (HRDAA) was founded to promote accreditation of academic programs in the field (see www.hrdaa.org). See sidebar below for the category of standards established by HRDAA. They are intended to establish standards of excellence for academic programs in the field. The accreditation process begins with the selection of a team of trained reviewers from other academic programs in the field. The academic program under review completes a self-study review in advance, submitting it to the team selected to do the review. The team then visits the review site, meeting with faculty, staff, and students to verify and determine how well the academic program adheres to the standards and complies with its own mission and procedures based on the self-study. Upon completion of the review, the team submits a report to the leaders of the academic program, as well as their department head(s), academic deans, and other appropriate decisionmakers. When major departures from standards are found, the academic program under review has an opportunity to respond to any such findings. The accreditation team then issues a letter to indicate the academic program has been accredited; or must comply with specific requirements and then will be accredited; or to indicate the program presently is not suited for accreditation. The review process aims to build on strengths and provide a basis for improvement, not to find fault. WHO ACCREDITS THE ACCREDITORS? Organizations exist solely to ensure that accreditation processes by accrediting bodies are carried out in adherence with the highest standards for the accreditation process. Most academic programs exist to conduct research and teaching, and offer service to the community and the field. Accreditation can be an effective and powerful tool to cross-fertilize academic programs and open balanced, integrated dialogues on excellence in research, teaching, and service. t w w w. t r a i n i n g m a g . c o m | JUNE 2008 t r a i n i n g http://www.hrdaa.org http://www.hrdaa.org http://www.trainingmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Training Magazine - June 2008

Training Magazine - June 2008 Contents Online TOC Editor’s Note Live & Online Training Today Soapbox How-To World View Changes With Penguins Keeping Forced Ranking Out of Court Across the Board Certify Me Meetings CPR How Secure Is Your Data? Training Leadership Summit Wrap-Up Tools of the Trade Inprint Questions for Covey

Training Magazine - June 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.