Lately, I find myself beginning every conversation about accreditation with “Thank you for your patience.” Establishing accreditation in inclusive higher education is important and deserves the time it takes – we want to get it right. The NCC Accreditation Workgroup has been hard at work over the last few months, gathering input from parents, TPSID program directors and others. During the accreditation process of the University Participant Program at Western Carolina University we learned so much. Dr. Kelly Kelley shared her wisdom and experience in this short interview conducted by Mary Judge Diegert (NCC AWG member). You can view the interview on YouTube.
We recruited two more programs to pilot the accreditation process this academic year: ACE-IT in College at Virginia Commonwealth University and Inclusive Services at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Many thanks to project directors Jaclyn Camden (VCU) and Dr.Christi Kasa (UCCS) for their willingness to be learning partners in accreditation.
By early November, the 2023 Guide to Accreditation for Programs Serving Students with Intellectual Disability will be released. This resource guide for programs who are interested in becoming accredited provides detailed information about the process. We anticipate annual updates to this document, as the NCC Accreditation Workgroup continues the pilot phase of the accreditation process (with 5 programs in total). The guide is created in partnership with the Inclusive Higher Education Accreditation Council and in the future programs will be able to access the guide from both the Think College and IHEA Council web pages.
Speaking of the Inclusive Higher Education Accreditation Council, new social media sites have been established to share information about all things accreditation. Visit both the LinkedIn and Facebook pages to get information and spread the word about accreditation in inclusive higher education.
So, thank YOU for your patience. Accreditation will have a profound impact on the quality of the field of inclusive higher education and most importantly students with intellectual disability.