In recent years, Irish universities have cooperated in developing quality assurance systems and in representing their approach nationally and internationally as a unique quality model. The quality framework that is described in this publication is the result of close collaboration among the universities, the Conference of Heads of Irish…

This portfolio is a compendium of policies and procedures of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education that address the responsibilities of the Commission and its member institutions. It provides general accreditation policies, as well as those that refer specifically to the self-study and peer review process, the programs and services…

This report, which is part of a study that seeks to help colleges, universities, and accreditation agencies improve their performance, presents insights gained from interviews and from documents collected in advance of and during visits to Denmark and Sweden in 1999 to examine higher education quality evaluations. Following Section 1,…

This study examines rankings of four-year liberal arts colleges by "U.S. News and World Report," focusing on whether institutional improvement efforts are likely to result in higher rankings. The paper explores how often changes in rankings occur; whether they tend to improve; and whether positive movements are as likely as negative…

The three issues of this 1997 research brief provide information about institutional programming and planning at St. Petersburg Junior College (SPJC) (Florida). Brief number 1 summarizes the 1996 Enrolled Student Survey and contains sections on student demographics, student satisfaction ratings, and open-ended questions about academic and support…

This 25-minute videotape is a production of the Broadcast Journalism emphasis at Southern Arkansas University (SAU) in Magnolia. SAU is a state-supported institution with an enrollment of 2,500 students. During the 1998-99 academic year, a team representing the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) evaluated the SAU…

This is the third report in an annual series providing performance indicators relating to higher education in the United Kingdom. The report is based on data from the academic years 1998-1999 and 1999-2000. Indicators are given for the 169 publicly funded institutions of higher education in the United Kingdom. Indicators, presented in seven major…

This report analyzes the institutional characteristics of the College of DuPage (Illinois). Through a series of interviews and a review of materials in 1999-2000, a team of six objective experts identified issues affecting the college and helped establish an agenda. Based on the findings, the team recommended that the college: (1) pare its core…

This study examined how firmly formalized institutional effectiveness processes were in place on college campuses and whether those processes were deemed successful and useful by campus communities, noting the effectiveness of Web-based surveying to collect information. Respondents were college administrators involved in their institution's…

The Higher Learning Commission (HLC), a commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), accredits Wyoming's seven community colleges. Institutional accreditation is a voluntary process that serves the purposes of quality assurance and institutional and program improvement. Colleges that are accredited by the HLC…

At the time of the twenty-second annual meeting of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, held in St. Louis, Missouri, March 23-24, 1917, authority was given the Commission on Secondary Schools to make a detailed comparative study of the data gathered that year from the accredited secondary schools. The commission has for…

Information from a sizeable sample of recent reports (N=269 programs) is presented to inform the engineering technology community of the most important factors in the accreditation process. Areas discussed (supplemented by data in tabular form) include physical facilities and faculty, administrative, curriculum, and student factors. (JN)

The changing nature of evaluation of higher education during periods of financial stringency, possible contraction, and changing social and educational needs is examined. A case is made for hiring high-quality managers who can build consensus in institutions and overcome behavioral problems surrounding self-evaluation. (Author/MSE)

Two components of institutional performance are regarded as effectiveness, which is concerned with the congruence between outputs and goals or other criteria, and efficiency, which links output with inputs. The efficiency dimension is defined, and its relationship to the economic concepts of efficiency and productivity is examined. (Author/PN)

Five reasons to accredit the whole library school instead of only first professional degree program are proposed: programs exist at several levels; strengths should be recognized; librarianship needs stronger career ladder; Master's degree is not always first professional degree; innovative and imaginative educational programs are needed.…