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Faculty Role in Accreditation
The faculty role in accreditation has been firmly established by the American
Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the Council of Higher Education
Accreditation (CHEA), both of which are highly influential organizations within higher
education. The AAUP is considered an authority on faculty related matters while CHEA
is considered to be an authority on accreditation matters. The AAUP, by its own
admission, was created to define ―fundamental professional values and standards for
higher education.‖ Since it was founded in 1915, this organization has defined the roles
of faculty members in many ways. AAUP (2008) reminds its constituents of its original
stance on faculty involvement in accreditation:
AAUP defines the role of faculty in accreditation in its 1968 statement The Role
of the Faculty in the Accrediting of Colleges and Universities. The principles
include the following: the self-study should be a ‗cooperative effort‘ involving
administrators and faculty; institutions should encourage faculty participation; and
the evaluation of academic programs and conditions affecting academic freedom,
tenure, faculty governance, and faculty status and morale should be ‗largely the
responsibility of faculty members.‘ (para. 3)
Furthermore, AAUP (2008) believes that faculty should be heavily involved in the
accreditation process and related activities such as the self-study to ensure that the faculty
voice is heard throughout the process. In one of its committee reports, AAUP (2008)
holds that faculty involvement should be welcomed by administrators and rewarded as
much as any other service that the faculty provides to the institution. AAUP (2008) says,
Faculty members often ask how they can add value to what may seem to be
primarily an administrative function. Yet issues such as curricular design and
effectiveness, assessment of students‘ academic performance, student retention
and graduation rates, quality of academic advising, and appropriateness of
cocurricular activities are central to the [accreditation process]. Because of their
training and direct contact with students, faculty members are in the best position