By Jacqueline Lytle
On April 4, an onsite committee from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) will visit NSU’s Fort Lauderdale-Davie campus as part of the reaccreditation process.
SACSCOC is the regional accrediting body of degree-granting higher education institutions for the 11 southern states. According to the commission’s website, their mission is “to assure the educational quality and improve the effectiveness of its member institutions.” The SACSCOC reviews institutions every five and 10 years.
Jane Duncan, NSU’s executive director of assessment and accreditation, said, “All 97 principles that [NSU] has to follow as an institution get reviewed every 10 years. There are 17 that get reviewed every five years.”
The reaccreditation process is important to the entire NSU community. Regional accreditation allows universities to receive federal funding and professional accreditations.
Duncan said, “Without our regional accreditation, we do not get federal financial aid. We are completely ineligible.”
NSU’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), “Write from the Start,” is a crucial part of the reaccreditation process. According to Duncan, the QEP is just as important as the 97 principles the university must follow.
“So, if we do poorly on the QEP but we’ve aced everything else, it doesn’t matter. We’re still found to be not in compliance,” said Duncan.
Barbara Packer-Muti, executive director of institutional and community engagement and director of the QEP, said NSU’s current QEP focuses on enhancing student writing.
“We heard loud and clear through faculty focus groups, through student focus groups, that the one resource that wasn’t really available…to all students was resources to provide help in writing,” said Packer-Muti.
Main and regional campuses, online students and faculty stated that even though there are some writing resources offered by NSU, they are not available to all.
“We want to make sure that online, regional campuses, onsite here in Fort Lauderdale-Davie and all levels [undergraduates and graduates]… have access to writing resources,” said Packer-Muti.
The SACSCOC onsite committee will be meeting with students, faculty, administration and the board of trustees to ask questions regarding accreditation standards. SACSCOC reviews everything from student engagement to graduation to student learning outcomes and faculty competence, according to Duncan.
“Even though this is something that happens behind the scenes, it has a very profound and direct impact on a [student’s] time at NSU,” Duncan said.
