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SACS Reaffirmation Project Compliance Certification Team Orientation Overview

This orientation provides an overview of the SACS Reaffirmation process, including the major components, changes in the reaccreditation process, consequences of non-compliance findings, examples of non-compliance findings, and tips for the Compliance Certification Report.

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SACS Reaffirmation Project Compliance Certification Team Orientation Overview

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  1. SACS Reaffirmation Project Compliance Certification Team OrientationOverview Thursday, September 30, 2010 9 – 11:00AM 209 Main Building – Lexmark Public Room Jennifer Skaggs, Ph.D. SACS Reaffirmation Project Director University of Kentucky

  2. Major Components in the SACS Reaffirmation Process • Preparation of Compliance Certification Report • Off-site Review & Report • Focused Report for On-site visit (if prepared) • On-site Visit • Response to the On-Site Visit Report • Commission Action CC Team Orientation Overview 9/30/10

  3. Changes in SACS Reaccreditation Process • Previous reaccreditation in 2002 involved: • Institutional Self Study • Over 400 “must” and “should” statements • New Process (effective 2004) • 17 Core Requirements • 59 Comprehensive Standards • 7 Federal requirements • QEP Plan (biggest change) CC Team Orientation Overview 9/30/10

  4. What this means • Onus is on institution to “make its case” with regard to compliance • Emphasis in Principles of Accreditation is placed on more subjective analysis of best practices • Determination of compliance is frequently more subjective with the Principles of Accreditation. CC Team Orientation Overview 9/30/10

  5. Consequences of Non-Compliance Findings • If an institution is found out of compliance with any of the Core Requirements (CR) • Immediate public sanction of non-compliance • Reaffirmation will be denied until deficiencies are corrected • If an institution is found out of compliance with any Comprehensive Standard (CS) or Federal Requirement (FR) • The institution submits a formal response regarding those issues and the steps being taken to become compliant (Focused Report) CC Team Orientation Overview 9/30/10

  6. Consequences of Non-Compliance Findings (continued) • In all cases of non-compliance • Monitoring will be made to SACS until compliance is demonstrated within a two-year monitoring period at which time sanctions will be imposed if compliance or significant progress towards compliance has not been made. Loss of accreditation leads to loss of federal funding for student aid CC Team Orientation Overview 9/30/10

  7. Examples of Non-Compliance Findings (Class of 2008) • Off-site • 88% had non-compliance with faculty competence (CS 3.7.1) • 69% had non-compliance with institutional effectiveness (CR 2.5) • On-Site • 43% had non-compliance with faculty competence (CS 3.7.1) • 56% had non-compliance with institutional effectiveness (CR 2.5) • Commission Stage • 36% had monitoring requirement for institutional effectiveness (CR 2.5) • 26% had monitoring requirement for college-level competencies (CS 3.5.1) CC Team Orientation Overview 9/30/10

  8. Recurring Reasons for Compliance Decisions by Off-Site Committees • Sufficiency of documentation • Analysis • Quality of writing • Accessibility of documentation • Relevance of documentation • Organization of report • Report addressed the requirement • Verification needed • Implementation (Carter, Johnson, & Gibbs, 2007) CC Team Orientation Overview 9/30/10

  9. Compliance Certification Report • The Compliance Certification Report involves: • Narratives • Documentation It is a document completed by the institution that demonstrates its judgment of the extent of its compliance with each of the Core Requirements (CR), Comprehensive Standards (CS), and Federal Requirements (FR). This report is submitted to the Off-Site Reaffirmation Committee CC Team Orientation Overview 9/30/10

  10. Off-Site Review • Peer reviewers & SACS staff members have limited knowledge of the institutional context • Have limited time to search for information to fill in what was left out • Will not be able to seek clarification Be vigilant regarding giving too much non-relevant institutional information CC Team Orientation Overview 9/30/10

  11. In other words… • The Compliance Certification Report must be able to speak for itself and must explicitly address all components of the requirements and standards • Narrative must be crisp and clear • Appropriate and relevant documentation must be easily accessible for each standard/requirement. CC Team Orientation Overview 9/30/10

  12. Questions to be asked by Compliance Certification Teams • What are the focal points of your assigned requirements/standards? • What might be the concerns of off- and on-site reviewers regarding your assigned requirements/standards? • What UK policies and/or official procedures apply to these requirements/standards? • What is the common practice at UK concerning these requirements/standards? • Have recent reviews been conducted concerning these requirements/standards? • Are there other policies and procedures needed to document compliance with this topic? • Is there other evidence such as records, survey results, reports, etc. needed to document compliance with this topic? CC Team Orientation Overview 9/30/10

  13. Where to start • Begin analysis by careful interpretation of the standards and requirements to understand each aspect and what information and data must be assembled to document compliance • Consult the SACS Resource Manual • Take sufficient time to deconstruct each standard and requirement and interpret them in the context of UK • Plan for document control CC Team Orientation Overview 9/30/10

  14. Planning for Document Version Control • For teams larger than two members, one person must be assigned lead responsibility (point person) for each core requirement and comprehensive standard • Critical to keep track of which version is the most current • SharePoint Site should be used to maintain one official version CC Team Orientation Overview 9/30/10

  15. Desired Results: • Well-structured narrative designs • CRISP & CLEAR • Appropriate documentation • No Data Dumps • Be sure documentation is applicable, appropriate, and easy to access CC Team Orientation Overview 9/30/10

  16. Timeline for Compliance Certification Report • Draft of Compliance Certification Report due by September 2011 • Draft allows for • Self-review and “buys time” to make necessary corrections • Finding evidence weaknesses • Preparation of Compliance Certification narratives to be “one voice” • Effective use and development of electronic resources • Final Compliance Certification Report turned into SACS September 2012 CC Team Orientation Overview 9/30/10

  17. CC Team Member Folders • Teams • Team Assignments (Responsibility Matrix) • Timeline • Internal Timeline/Checklist • Principles of Accreditation • Example of SACS Compliance Notice (SCN) CC Team Orientation Overview 9/30/10

  18. UK SACS Website www.uky.edu/SACS CC Team Orientation Overview 9/30/10

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