Yes, We Need Accountability. But We Also Need Institutional Diversity.
Preview:
Among many proposals for accreditation reform put forward by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, her call for accreditors to "honor individual campus missions" and avoid "one size fits all" methods has some appeal for colleges that focus on specific populations. While mission considerations have always been part of accreditation, across the past decade the rise of data-driven assessment and public-data aggregators like the College Scorecard has placed increasingly onerous burdens on institutions whose metrics often look different from the mainstream, including many women’s colleges, historically black colleges and universities, and minority-serving institutions.
Originally published: January 20, 2019
Author: Patricia McGuire
Position: President
Institution: Trinity Washington University
Published by: The Chronicle of Higher Ed