Requirements


Requirements For Institutional Acreditation Under The ECUMENICAL FEDERATION OF ACREDITATION


The Procedures of the Board of Commissioners ("Board") require that an institution seeking Candidacy for Accredited Status follow these steps.

First. The chief administrative officer of the institution should notify, in writing, the Commission staff that the school intends to petition the board of Commissioners for candidacy status.

Second. The applicant school shall undertake an internal study of its readiness for candidacy for accredited status. For the purposes of this internal study, the Board provides the following guidelines:

1. The study should begin with a brief overview of the school's history, purpose, constituencies, goals and long-term ambitions.

2. The study should provide a general assessment of the way in which the school reflects the general institutional standards and the standards for degree programs offered by the school. (Part 1 this "readiness study" is not a self- study; rather it serves two purpose First, because the criteria for Associate Membership in The Ecumenical Federation are not the same as the standards for accreditation, this study provides an initial assessment by the applicant institution regarding the ways in which the school reflects the expectations of the standards for accreditation. Second, and Based on the school's assessment, the institution should identify the changes it will need to make during candidacy in order to be adequately prepared for its initial accreditation evaluation.

3. This study should be limited to approximately fifty pages of narrative text , plus appropriate supporting documentation. The text should address each of the standards of accreditation. The study should reflect attention to the general guidance of the ten general institutional standards and the degree standards, and not focus on each sub-section. The subsequent self-study, undertaken after the granting of candidacy for accredited status, will provide the opportunity for a more thorough review of each section of the standards. This study should examine the institution broadly in the context of the standards, and provide answers for questions such as: In What ways does the school meet the standards? In what ways does the school not meet the standards? What will the school need to do during the self-study period to ensure that it meets the accrediting standards at the time of its initial accrediting visit? What evidences of institutional strengths and weaknesses become evident when viewing the institution through the perspective of the Commission accrediting standards?

4. In addition, this study should describe the institution's tentative plan for undertaking its self-study, if candidacy is granted. Are the faculty, administrative, and financial resources adequate for the effort? What time-line does the institution propose to complete its required self-study within the two years of candidacy?

5. The study should reflect the judgments of the faculty and key administrative officers of the schools, but it need not be the result of a lengthy deliberative process. The energy for the longer, more consultative and deliberative process should be reserved for the self study, if candidacy is granted.

6. The institution, upon the receipt of its letter of intent regarding petitioning for candidacy, will be assigned an accreditation staff member who will work with the school through the application process. The school should consult with the staff member and negotiate an outline for the report prior to beginning the work of the study.

Third. Upon completion of the readiness study, the Commission staff member will review it and schedule a staff evaluation visit. The purpose of the staff visit is evaluative, and the staff member will interview students faculty, administrative leaders, members of the governing board, library Staff, alumni/a and other persons as appropriate to assess the institution in light of the standards of accreditation. The staff member will prepare a report on the basis of the visit, and the Board of Commissioners will consider the institution's readiness study and the staff report in its consideration of the petition for candidacy.

Candidacy will be granted if the school successfully demonstrates that either it is, or at the conclusion of the period of candidacy will be, operating according to the general institutional and individual degree program standards, and that it has the institutional capacity to evaluate its institutional and educational effectiveness.

The institution is responsible for travel, housing, and related expenses incurred in the conduct of the staff visit.