Volume 3 | Issue 2 | March 2024
ACCREDITATION UPDATE
Your Roadmap to Successfully Navigating SACSCOC Reaffirmation of Accreditation
Preparing to Spring Forward

In the last newsletter you might recall that we were falling into Phase 4. Now, here we are emerging from a winter of revisions, tidying up loose ends, and springing forward into Phase 5.  

An important part of this transition will be the SACSCOC Advisory Visit from our SACSCOC Vice-President, Dr. Lynne Crosby, on Wednesday, May 15th. 
Dr. Crosby’s insights will be essential for ensuring our Compliance Certification narratives are properly cultivated and ready to submit by the start of the fall semester.  

In preparation for this visit, Team Leads have continued their monthly meetings with the IAA Accreditation Team. In December, a delegation from Georgia Southern attended the SACSCOC Annual Meeting, and the semesterly All-Team meeting was held in early February. At this meeting, team members were given the final push towards finalizing any outstanding Compliance Certification narratives.

The final submission of narratives is like planting the seeds for a successful reaffirmation. Over the next few months, IAA will be cultivating these seeds to make certain the ground is fertile, and Compliance Certification narratives blossom with all the evidence necessary to support reaffirmation. Narratives will be sown into one document, and then submitted to SACSCOC at the beginning of the fall semester for review by the Off-Site Reaffirmation Committee who will determine if our seeds have yielded a judgment of compliance.  

STATUS UPDATE: We are in transition from Phase 4 to Phase 5
Compliance Certification narratives are being shared with our second external reviewer and finalized. Check out our external review progress with our Phase 4: External Review Dashboard.
Did you Know?
SACSCOC has released the 2024 edition of the Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement and Resource Manual. Accrediting bodies engage in a regular process of revising accreditation standards to enhance clarity and ensure standards reflect any changes in requirements from the US Department of Education. Proposed changes were circulated to institutions for comment and feedback over the last two years before being approved at the 2023 SACSCOC Annual Meeting.
Section 13: Financial and Physical Resources
13.1 The institution has sound financial resources and a demonstrated, stable financial base to support the mission of the institution and scope of its programs and services. (Financial resources).
Essential Components for Compliance:
Sound financial resources, demonstrated stable financial base, support mission of the institution, scope of programs and services
Fiscally Fit: Supporting our Mission
Georgia Southern University engages in a transparent, collaborative, and strategically-aligned budget prioritization process as detailed in our FY2025 Budget narrative:

Overall, Georgia Southern is healthy, in motion, and moving towards our stated goals and “getting better at getting better” every day...As part of our institutional budget planning, we modeled our continuous improvement mindset by looking for opportunities for redirection to allow us to invest in growing programs [Teaching & Research pillar], enable a more efficient business [Operational Efficiency, Effectiveness, & Sustainability pillar] and look for opportunities to improve student outcomes [Student Success pillar].

This approach ensures all institutional budgets are spent on mission-critical and mission-aligned initiatives.
Upcoming Events
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Spring Monthly Team
Lead Meetings

Wednesday, March 27
Wednesday, April 17
Wednesday, May 15

July 21-24, 2024
New Orleans, Louisiana
SACSCOC Advisory Visit
Wednesday, May 15

SACSCOC Off-Site Review
Fall 2024

And Our March newsletter winner is...
Karen Riegelman
(School of Human Ecology)
Email assessment@georgiasouthern.edu within 30 days to claim your prize.
Institutional Assessment and Accreditation (IAA) works collaboratively with faculty, staff, and administration to ensure the quality of the programs and educational experiences offered by the university, addressing the unique assessment needs of courses, departments, colleges, or units through individual and group consultations, professional development workshops, recommendations for technology implementation, and best practice reference materials.

An opportunity to enhance the accreditation communication experience.