Programmatic Accreditation

Different, but the same, below the institutional accreditation, is the accreditation of a program within the institution. Educational Institutions often desire the status and validation of a professional association to review their program and determine if it meets their written and published standards. This is a very valuable exercise and the library should ensure they are included in the program review. Every accrediting professional association has a component somewhere in their standards which includes information resources. By being involved we can better assure the students and faculty and the institutional accreditors that we are engaged with faculty and knowledgeable of what we need to support excellent programs and their learning outcomes. And involvement could be part of your information literacy program.

As a librarian, my profession has its own accreditation standards for programmatic accreditation of a library school. It is the American Library Association Committee on Accreditation (COA).  For many years I have been a peer reviewer, responsible for reading the self study reports, writing the report and involved in site visits of library and information study schools through out the U.S.. and Canada.

And professionally I have also been responsible for writing the portion of the self study report related to information resources and services for 2 nursing accreditors, 2 business program accreditors, a computer/IT program accreditation group, the American Bar Association, and well, just about any or all programmatic that my Program or Departmental Academic Dean decides to strive for.

They are a challenge, but a great reward when done correctly.

melody@virtuallibrarianservice.com