AMC Reaffirmation of Accreditation
2010-2012

Question 2. What standards or criteria are used to determine if a College is accedited and how do they work?

Answer: There are approximately 85 standards used to determine if a college is eligible for accreditation (or called reaccreditation if a college has already been accredited once). These 85 standards are divided into three areas: 1) Core requirements, 2) Comprehensive Standards, and 3) Federal Requirements. Of these three areas, the core requirements are scrtinized more closely than the others, and if a college does not pass all eleven (11) of the standards in the core requirements, it will not be reaccredited. Many standards appear in more than one area. For example, education programs appear in the core requirements and comprehensive standards. In the area of core requirements, the standard focuses on whether or not certain educational programs and services exist. The comprehensive standard area goes into more detail and not only focuses on the existence of educational programs and services, but also what is the quality of the programs and services that exist. The standards for accreditation are found in the SACS document called Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement.

Questions 3. How long does the process for reaffirmation of accreditation last?

Answer: The process of reaffirmation of accrediation lasts for approximately two years, and is required by SACS once every ten years. During the ten-year period after each reaffirmation of accreditation, SACS requires each institution to produce a mid-term report to determine its progress.

Questions 4. Can you explain the reaffirmation process for AMC?

Answer: The reaffirmation process is broken down into four (4) final steps:

Step 1. AMC will complete a self-evaluation and determine whether or not it is in compliance with the 85 standards of accreditation, and submit its self-evaluation report called the Compliance Certification Report to a SACS team, called the Off-site Team. In addition, AMC must submit evidence supporting compliance of the 85 standards in the Compliance Certification Report. The SACS Off-site Committee will evaluate the Compliance Certification submitted by AMC and give a report of its finding to the extent that AMC is in compliance with the 85 standards.

Step 2. If there are standards that AMC does not meet initially, but believes the Off-site Committee made a mistake or didn't have enough information, AMC may submit a second report, called "The Focused Report," to clarify areas the Off-Site Committee may have been mistaken in its interpretation of or needed more information about in order to make a proper and more informed evaluation.

Step 3. An On-site Committee, consisting of 6-8 members, will spend approximately two days on the AMC campus in attempt to address any unresolved issues relating to the 85 standards and other required audits by the federal governments. The On-site Committee will also evaluate AMC's Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) which is another very important reaffirmation requirement. The QEP outlines and describes AMC's 5-year plan for addressing its most urgent needs related to student learning outcomes. For more details on the QEP, click here for the Quality Enhancement Plan. The On-site Team Chair will assist AMC with addressing any shortfalls that the On-site Team may identify in the QEP, and will allow AMC approximately five months to make corrections.

Step 4. The final step is the receipt of the SACS Committees CRC decision regarding the College's application for the reaffirmation of it accrditation.

Question 5. What is AMC's strategy for the successful reaffirmation of accrediation?

Answer: AMC will utilize the collective expertise and efforts of all of its employees, including students, faculty, and staff to successfully receive its reaffirmation of accreditation. This is AMC's third reaffirmation since it was founded in 1974, therefore it has experience in the reaffirmation process. Nonetheless, AMC does not take reaffirmation of accreditation lightly or for granted, rather the College will expend any and all resources and efforts necessary for reaccreditation. AMC's overall strategy to complete the reaffirmation process is to organize into five primary committees that will address the requirements of reaccrediation: 1) The leadership team, consisting of the President of the College, the Director of Reaffirmation/the AMC SACS Reaffirmation Liaison, the College Vice Presidents, the Chair of the Compliance Certification Committee, and the Co-Chairs of the QEP Committee, 2) The Compliance Certification Committee, consisting of a Compliance Certification Committee Chair, two faculty representatives, the Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs, the Library Director, and Registrar, 3) The Quality Enhancement Committee, consisting of QEP co-chairs, a faculty representative from each division, two division chairs, a community representive, an advisory council representative, USG representative, and two student representatives (Student Commission President and the Honors Club President), 4) The Editorial Committee, consisting of 3-4 proofreaders from various divisions of the College, and 5) The Technology Committee, consisting of the MIS Director and two employees with technology experience/expertise.

Question 6. What is the timeline for the steps involved in AMC's reaffirmation?

Answer: AMC's Compliance Certification report is due March 2011. The focused report will be due mid-summer (late June, early July). The QEP is due mid-August 2010. The On-site Team will visit AMC mid-October, 2011. The reaffirmation of accreditation decision will be made summer 2012. The mid-term report will be due 2017.

Question 7. What are the possible results of a reaffirmation of accrediation evaluation for AMC?

Answer: There are three primary outcomes for a reaffirmation of accreditation process/evaluation: 1) If AMC meets all the requirements, it will be reaffirmed. 2) If AMC has some areas that need improvement, it may recieve a warning or be placed on probation, which will allow it time to correct the shortfalls or problems identifed in the reaffirmation process. 3) If after time, AMC does not correct problems identified in the reaffirmation process, it will lose its accreditation.

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AMC Reaffirmation Office:
1630 Metropolitan Parkway
Atlanta, GA 30310
404-756-4654
sacs@atlm.edu