6,095: Specialized Academic Program Accreditations

Revised: August 2018

Responsible Office

The Office of the Provost is responsible for oversight of specialized academic program accreditation and tracking the status of accredited programs. Some funding for specialized program accreditation is available from the office as described below. However, it is expected that for voluntary accreditations there will be some cost sharing between the University, college/school, and department.

Notification of Initial or Reaccreditation

The college must notify the Office of the Provost of any planned initial or reaccreditation process and/or visit before the end of April of the fiscal year prior to the planned evaluation process/visit. The college/school and/or department should complete a Notification of Intent to Seek Specialized Accreditation/Reaccreditation form (found on the Office of the Provost website). The notification form requires information regarding the estimated cost of the review, including costs for the initial accreditation application and site visit as well as the ongoing costs of maintaining the specialized accreditation. In addition, the form requires a suggested division of the costs of the accreditation review between the University, college/school, and department. The approved form will be reviewed, discussed with the dean, and returned by the Office of the Provost in advance of the fiscal year.

Specialized Accreditation Costs

Initial/Ongoing Memberships. The Office of the Provost typically provides funding for one annual membership connected with an accreditation per college. Additionally, the Office of the Provost will typically provide funding for annual accreditation memberships for any college/school or any program within a college/school that is required by the major national professional association or licensing body.

Accreditation Site Visits. The Office of the Provost share the costs of the accreditation visit as agreed to on the returned notification form.

Site Visit

Arrangements for site visits are the responsibility of the college/school, or department being visited. Because it is customary for University administrators to meet with external evaluators in specialized accreditation, whenever possible, the college/school or department shall consult the Office of the Provost before scheduling an accreditation visit. The Office of the Provost will identify which administrators (i.e. President, Executive Vice President & Provost, Vice Provosts) shall meet with the external evaluators. Any such meetings of the evaluator(s) with the President, Executive Vice President & Provost, and/or Vice Provosts should be scheduled as early as possible to avoid meeting conflicts. In advance of these meetings, copies of the self-study document, visit schedule, and other materials provided to the accreditation team shall be provided to the university administrators who will be meeting with team members.

Final Report

A copy of the evaluation team's final report should be submitted to the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost as soon as available. Copies of the final letter from the agency indicating accreditation status should also be forwarded.