For Deborah Balogh and a task force of 150 faculty, staff and students, the road to re-accreditation has been a long one.
Balogh, acting assistant provost and dean of the Ball State Graduate School, is director of BSU's self-study for the first phase of the re-accreditation process that began two years ago.
Balogh said re-accreditation has been a slow process.
"Preparing the plan and the documentation takes almost three years because we are evaluating every aspect of our business," Balogh said. "The (self-study) document itself provides the summary of our evaluation."
Balogh said the documentation collected for the self-study phase fills several filing cabinets. The self-study document will be available online at www.bsu.edu/nca in February 2003.
The self-study committee consists of 150 members who sit on one of 10 subcommittees - nine task forces and one steering committee, Balogh said. Committee members include faculty, staff and students who evaluate the university's mission statement, faculty salaries, physical facilities and undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
The Higher Learning Commission reports that an accredited university has met standards set by a governing body - in Ball State's case, by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Colleges and universities enter the accreditation process voluntarily.
Most degree-granting schools seek accreditation. The commission lists 52 accredited institutions of higher learning in Indiana.
The largest educational institution based in Indiana that is not accredited by North Central is Indianapolis-based ITT Technical Institute. ITT has 70 locations in 28 states and educates 31,000 students annually, according to its Web site.
The U.S. Department of Education recognizes 10 regional accreditation agencies nationwide that develop evaluation criteria and conduct peer evaluations of universities and colleges. According to the department's Web site, the goal of accreditation is "to ensure that education provided by institutions of higher education meets acceptable levels of quality."
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