In this day of increased competition for students, educators need to know what makes their institution exceptional or how it is perceived as providing something of value that other institutions in the local area do not. Without this information, community colleges will find it difficult to thrive and adapt in the future. Efforts to determine the…

The heightened interest in college program review is traced to a widespread interest in improving educational quality and the need to respond creatively to financial constraints and external expectations for accountability. Current program reviews have also been designed to aid in decision making about resource reallocation and program…

In recent years, community colleges have developed innovative assessment programs to respond to more explicit state guidelines and mandates for greater accountability. In California, for example, the State Assembly began requiring community colleges to address specific educational and fiscal performance issues in assessments in 1989, while…

The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) was organized in 1981 as the accrediting agency responsible for reviewing and evaluating counseling and student affairs practice in higher education programs against a set of nationally recognized standards. The CACREP accreditation process incorporates a pattern…

Institutional self-study is an appropriate method for determining quality and demonstrating accountability which can lead to academic and administrative excellence. With a trend toward state and federal government involvement in higher education, colleges will do well to conduct internal program assessments in order to maintain control. A…

Accountability has been a developing issue for community colleges for the past several years. Demands that two-year colleges provide evidence of the achievement of their goals has placed a heavy burden on institutional research offices. A number of organizational models have been used by community colleges in carrying out the research function,…

As a result of increasing pressure from external constituencies, community colleges have been called upon to demonstrate accountability through assessment activities and research on institutional effectiveness based on student outcomes. Since community colleges include transient student populations, students with a wide range of ability and…

This digest, based on a larger report of the same title, summarizes principles for improving quality in higher education institutions. Emphasis is on the effect of the principles when they are used holistically to create a culture of academic excellence. The quality principles are based on the conceptual framework of total quality management (TQM)…

Within the last few years, American schools have moved toward routinely measuring the outcomes of their educational programs. Two national associations dealing with community colleges have also developed quantitative indicators to assess outcomes for two-year colleges. There are still colleges that make only minimal efforts at assessment, citing…