With the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic there is a rush for the world of academia to go online and the accreditation systems are no exception. Even though all the acceditation systems had more or less gone online, the new urgency has created opportunities for them to engage with their stakeholders on real time basis using modern technology tools. Each of the top rated accreditation agencies have their own engagement strategy online.
The two steps involved which meant human contact namely mentorship guidance and the site visit have firmly moved online. All the accreditation systems have deployed real time technology for the mentors to stay close to their constituents and the site visits are being done with pre-schduled online engagement using some of the advanced popular online meeting tools.
A recent Bized magazine article of AACSB "The online market is growing fast—just consider that the U.S. News & World Report now ranks nearly 300 online MBA programs, and Forbes reports that 32,000 students are studying in the top 25 online MBA programs alone, " the article says. This means the rules of engagement for the future need to change/
Typically, online learning embodies a limited amount of direct interaction with the instructor, with most of the assignments carried out in an asynchronous manner by the student and student teams. This delivery mode provides a platform for introducing active and experiential learning, team collaboration, and crowdsourcing as innovative, knowledge-driven constructs, the magazine says.
Accreditation systems often are concerned with the course content and delivery mode which now needs to be showcased once again on an online mode to the accreditation teams (first the mentor and later the evaluating team)
ACBSP has been using online systems for some years and they didnt have to tweak too much to move to the online bandwaon in the wake of Covid. ACBSP has implemented an online reporting platform for self-studies and quality assurance reports. ACBSP has worked with Campus Labs to develop and maintain the platform. Campus Labs is running similar reporting platforms for regional accreditors such as North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, The Higher Learning Commission (NCA-HLC), and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
The action definitely is now online!