Glossary

Each candidate and member institution appoints an Accreditation Liaison to serve as the resource person on campus for SACSCOC accreditation questions and as an institutional contact person for SACSCOC personnel.

The primary document prepared by candidate institutions for Accreditation Committees (when seeking initial accreditation) and Off-Site Reaffirmation Committees (when member institutions are seeking reaffirmation of Accreditation), the Compliance Certification presents narrative arguments and appropriate documentation supporting those narratives for compliance with all standards of the Principles of Accreditation except Standard 7.2 (Quality Enhancement Plan), which is submitted separately as part of a Reaffirmation review.

Basic, broad-based, foundational requirements, the Core Requirements establish a threshold of development required of all institutions seeking initial accreditation or reaffirmation. Core Requirements are designated with a “(CR)” designation following the standard.

For the purpose of accreditation and in accord with federal regulations, a credit hour is an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally established equivalency that reasonably approximates (1) not less than one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours out of class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester or trimester hour of credit, or ten to twelve weeks for one-quarter hour of credit, or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time or (2) at least an equivalent amount of work as required outlined in item 1 above for other academic activities as established by the institution including laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours

In conjunction with the federal definition, SACSCOC defines distance education as a formal educational process in which the majority of the instruction (interaction between students and instructors and among students) in a course occurs when students and instructors are not in the same place. Instruction may be synchronous or asynchronous. A distance education course may use the internet; one-way and two-way transmissions through open broadcast, closed circuit, cable, microwave, broadband lines, fiber optics, satellite, or wireless communications devices; audio conferencing; or video cassettes, DVDs, and CD-ROMs if used as part of the distance learning course or program.

An educational program is a coherent set of courses leading to a credential (degree, diploma, or certificate) awarded by the institution.

Courses in general education introduce undergraduate students to the basic content and methodology of the principal areas of knowledge – humanities and the fine arts, the social and behavioral sciences, and the natural sciences and mathematics.

Institutional effectiveness is the systematic, explicit, and documented process of measuring performance against mission in all aspects of an institution.

The Leadership Team is the small group at the institution that coordinates and manages the internal process for developing appropriate documents and overseeing preparations for the reviews that are required for initial accreditation or reaffirmation of Accreditation.

An off-campus instructional site is a teaching site located geographically apart from the main campus. A site at which an institution provides electronic delivery and where students go to access the support services needed is also considered an off-campus instructional site. The site is not independent of the institution’s main campus.

Composed of a chair and evaluators for finance, institutional effectiveness, governance and administration, academic and student support services, library and learning support services, and two or more evaluators for educational programs, the Off-Site Reaffirmation Committee completes the first review of the Compliance Certification developed by a member institution seeking reaffirmation of Accreditation.

Composed of a minimum of seven members (the chair and evaluators in the areas of organization/governance, faculty, educational programs, student support services, institutional effectiveness, and the Quality Enhancement Plan), the On-Site Reaffirmation Committee visits a member institution seeking reaffirmation of Accreditation to complete the review of the standards begun by the Off-Site Review Committee and to review the QEP and Focused Report.

Required of all member institutions undergoing reaffirmation of Accreditation, the Quality Enhancement Plan is a carefully designed and focused course of action derived from the institution’s existing planning and evaluation processes that addresses a well-defined issue directly related to enhancing specific student learning outcomes and/or student success. Applicant and candidate institutions do not prepare a Quality Enhancement Plan during the process for initial accreditation

One of two separately incorporated entities of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the SACSCOC (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools SACS Commission on College) is the regional body for the accreditation of degree-granting institutions of higher education in the eleven Southern states – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia; SACSCOC also accredits international institutions of higher education.