Gina Vyskocil

EDUC 766
Dr. Smith
August 16, 2016

Evaluation of Three College Mission Statements and

History of Accreditation in the U.S.

University 1: Loma Linda University Mission/Vision Statements:

Motto To Make Man Whole
Mission: To continue the teaching and healing ministry of Jesus Christ
Vision: Transforming lives through education, healthcare, and research
Shared Values: Compassion, Integrity, Excellence
In harmony with our heritage and global mission: We encourage personal and
professional growth through integrated development of the intellectual, physical,
social, and spiritual dimension of each member of the university community and
those we serve. We promote an environment that reflects and builds respect for
the diversity of humanity as ordained by God. We seek to serve a worldwide
community by promoting healthful living, caring for the sick, and sharing the
good news of a loving God.

Evaluation:

As I am employed at Loma Linda University, it is with reserve that I attempt to

evaluate institutional mission/vision. I find the opening statement/motto to be sexist, and
it has long bothered me, as I know it has some of my female colleagues. However, it was
drafted at a historical timeframe circa 1900, and made sense at that time. The other
statements are more current, and in line with the religious affiliation which underlays the
university itself. The church is both foundational and irrevocably linked to the university
mission, vision, and the accomplishing of articulated goals. I do believe the university has
articulated vision, values and mission that are consistent with participation within a
global community, an aspect of mission vision shared by other institutions and is current
in addressing the larger social good, a tenet of higher education which appears in our
doctoral studies program at CSUSB with frequency.

University 2: CSUSB Vision & Mission

Vision Statement
CSUSB aspires to be a model for transforming lives.
Mission Statement

CSUSB ensures student learning and success, conducts research, scholarly and creative
activities, and is actively engaged in the vitality of our region. We cultivate the
professional, ethical, and intellectual development of our students, faculty and staff so
they thrive and contribute to a globally connected society.
Evaluation:
As would be expected of a state university, the religious overtones present in
Loma Lindas mission vision statements are notably absent. However, the theme of
transforming lives appears in the mission vision statements of both universities. I do note
a regional focus in the CSUSB mission/vision statements that is not present in Loma
Lindas, which articulates a global interest, rather than regional, despite facilities
regionally that support regional affiliation and interest. Both universities acknowledge
and indicate interest and participation in global community leadership and preparing
leaders for roles in those arenas.

University 3: University of Redlands

Mission Statement
The University of Redlands is a private, independent liberal arts university committed to
providing a personalized education that frees students to make enlightened choices.
Redlands emphasizes academic rigor, curricular diversity and innovative teaching.
Redlands fosters a community of scholars and encourages a pluralistic notion of values

by challenging assumptions and stereotypes in both classes and activities. A Redlands

education goes beyond training to embrace a reflective understanding of our world; it
proceeds from information to insight, from knowledge to meaning.
Welcoming intellectually curious students of diverse religious, ethnic, national and
socioeconomic backgrounds, the University seeks to develop responsible citizenship as
part of a complete education. Redlands encourages a community atmosphere with
exceptional opportunity for student leadership and interaction. For working adults, the
University offers innovative academic programs at convenient locations and times.
Redlands blends liberal arts and professional programs, applied and theoretical study,
traditional majors and self-designed contracts for graduation. Small classes enable each
student to participate in class discussion, to work closely with professors, and to receive
extensive individual attention. Redlands remains sensitive to contemporary trends in
society and challenges students to commit themselves to a lifetime of learning.

Evaluation:
University of Redlands is the most verbal in articulating mission/vision statements
that focuses on both enlightenment and choice, as tenets of higher educational values.
The University of Redlands mission/vision statements seem to invite challenges to status
quo and encourage active thought and inquiry on the part of its students, also with a focus
on worldview/world/ global participation. However, what is different is the responsible
citizenship component of University of Redlands mission/vision statements. Leadership

is addresses more overtly, as is patent attempts to promote convenience, a more local

focus than articulated in either of the other two institutional mission/vision statements. As
a sidenote, the tone and style of University of Redlands mission/vision statements is
more personal and casual than either of the other two university mission/vision
statements.

History of Accreditation in the United States

At the time of the American Revolution, nine colleges existed in what would later
become the United States. Rudolph (1962) described these institutions as temples of
piety and intellect in the wilderness (p. 3). One of the earliest leaningsimmediately
upon the heels of shelter, a house of worship and a framework of government (p. 3), the
founding people longed for a means, a vehicle through which to advance learning and
perpetuate it into posterity (Rudolph, 1962, p. 4). Models for original institutions of
learning arose from Cambridge and Oxford trained gentlemen (p. 4), of which there
were approximately 130, in the 1770s and 80s, who fashioned higher education after
their alma maters, founded upon a need for adornment of cultured men (p. 6) and to
ensure the New England youth were piously educated in good letters and manners (p. 7).
In the 250 years following their inception, the colleges underwent changes, in
governance, structure, funding and purpose. The greatest change occurred in 1867,
defined by Ralph Waldo Emerson as a cleavage occurring in the hitherto granite of the
past and a new era is nearly arrived (Rudolph, 1962, p. 241). This time period following
the Civil War was identified as a time when the old time colleges would have to decide
whether they would be instruments of the past or future and would have to meet the
imperative needs of an expanding industrial nation and expanding national power (p.
242).
As noted by Rudolph (1962), education was largely a function of two agencies:
land-grant colleges and state universities. Land grant colleges were designated by a state

to receive benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890 in the form of federally
controlled lands which could be sold to raise money to endow colleges whose missions
were to focus on education in agriculture, science, military science, and engineering in
response to the Industrial Revolution and changing social class (p. 390).
The twenty-first century has forced nations into a global economy as well as
community, inviting educators to explore the various literacies non-traditional student
populaces possess, and to incorporate both personal and public literacies in meaningful,
collaboratively-constructed ways.
Accreditation gradually evolved under the auspices of protecting public health
and safety and to serve the public interest (Accrediting Council for Independent
Colleges and Schools). Initially, accrediting agencies were formed in the 1880s focusing
almost exclusively on standards and admissions procedures, early precursors for current
focus on equity and access through the Chancelors office in Sacramento and the
Taskforce commissioned to evaluate student success. Policies which governed transfer of
credits and equivalency degrees was urgently needed on the national level, as students
moved into and out of the United States and educational institutions in foreign countries.
Though regional standards emerged first, national standards were adopted to provide
minimum quality standards across the country.
In 1912, twenty three schools called the National Association of Accredited
Commerical Schools resulted in what would become the first national accrediting agency
(ACICS, 2016). This was followed in 1918 by the formation of ACE, or American
Council on Education which standardized the accreditation process. By the 1930s,
accreditation was a well established institution in higher education.

The GI Bill, post-WWII, gave rise to the creation of additional accrediting

agencies, which eventually resulted in the need for consistency/coordination between the
various agencies in development of regulation, legislation, and oversight by the US
government, US Commission of Education. The GI Bill limited attendance to
enrollment at accredited institutions included on a list of federally
recognized accredited institutions published by the US Commission of
Education. The NCA or National Commission on Accrediting was a precursor to the
later NRCAA, later renamed FRACHE, Federation of Regional Accrediting
Commissions of Higher Education.
The various agencies regrouped and renamed themselves under various auspices
until the United States Secretary of Education recognized the ACICS on the federal level
in 1956, culminating in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 which gives the
Department of Education authority to oversee disbursement of Title IV funding (ACICS,
2016). Today, ACICS is one of only two national accrediting agencies recognized in the
United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education.
WASC and five other official educational accrediting organizations exist in the
United States today. The national accreditors get their name from their common (but not
universal) practice of accrediting schools nationwide (Department of Education, 2015).
The following regional and national accrediting agencies are recognized by the Secretary
as reliable authorities concerning the quality of education or training offered by the
institutions of higher education or higher education programs they accredit.
Accreditation by an agency may be used by an institution accredited by the
agency to establish eligibility to participate in Title IV programs. Since December 1999,

the Department has been routinely including distance education (defined at the time to
include correspondence education) in its in-depth review of all agencies seeking initial or
continued recognition (Department of Education, 2015). Consequently, all recognition
decisions made after December 1, 1999 and prior to July 2010 include a determination as
to whether an agencys scope of recognition includes the accreditation of distance
education. Beginning 2010, at each review for renewal of recognition, an agency has
been expected to demonstrate its evaluation of distance education and/or correspondence
education in order to retain distance education and/or correspondence education in its
scope of recognition.
Two basic types of educational accreditation exist in the United States today. One
is identified as "institutional" and the other is referred to as "specialized" or
"programmatic." Institutional accreditation typically applies to an entire institution,
indicating that each of an institution's parts is contributing to the achievement of the
institution's objectives, mission and vision, though not necessarily at the same level of
quality. Regional accrediting association commissions, for example, perform institutional
accreditation, as do many national accrediting agencies (Current List, 1998).
Specialized or programmatic accreditation applies to programs, departments, or schools
which serve as parts of a whole institution. The accredited unit may be as large as a
college or school within a university or as small as a curriculum within a discipline. Most
of the specialized or programmatic accrediting agencies review units within an institution
of higher education that is accredited by one of the regional accrediting commissions.
However, certain accrediting agencies also accredit professional schools and other
specialized or vocational institutions of higher education that are free-standing in their

operations. Thus, a "specialized" or "programmatic" accrediting agency may also

function in the capacity of an "institutional" accrediting agency. In addition, a number of
specialized accrediting agencies accredit educational programs within non-educational
settings (Current List, 1998).
Five major accrediting institutions (in addition to WASC) are as follows:

Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES)- Scope of

recognition: ABHES has been nationally recognized by the U.S. Secretary
of Education as a private, non-profit, independent accrediting agency since
1969. It has been at the forefront of advancing the quality of health
education programs throughout the country. ABHES enhances the quality
of education and training and promotes institutional and programmatic
accountability through systematic and consistent program evaluation. Its
key is to assure the quality of the programs it accredits, and assist in the
improvement of the programs. This quality-determination is accomplished
by rigorous and systematic evaluation based on valid standards. The goals
of ABHES focus on three key areas: recognition, resources, and service;
all of which it believes are essential and paramount to achieving its
mission (Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools, 2016).

Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC)Scope of recognition: the accreditation of postsecondary, non-degreegranting institutions and degree-granting institutions in the United States,
including those granting associate, baccalaureate and masters degrees,

that are predominantly organized to educate students for occupational,

trade and technical careers, and including institutions that offer programs
via distance education.

Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET)Scope of recognition: the accreditation throughout the United States of
institutions of higher education that offer continuing education and
vocational programs that confer certificates or occupational associate
degrees, including those programs offered via distance education.

Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and (ACICS)- Scope of

recognition: the accreditation of private postsecondary institutions offering
certificates or diplomas, and postsecondary institutions offering associate,
bachelor's, or master's degrees in programs designed to educate students
for professional, technical, or occupational careers, including those that
offer those programs via distance education.

Distance Education Accrediting (DEAC)- Scope of recognition: the

accreditation of postsecondary institutions in the United States that offer
degree and/or non-degree programs primarily by the distance or
correspondence education method up to and including the professional
doctoral degree, including those institutions that are specifically certified
by the agency as accredited for Title IV purposes.

The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) is a

subsidiary of Western Association of Schools of Colleges (WASC) and serves as one of
six regional accrediting bodies in the United States. The ACCJC accredits private and
public colleges and universities that confer two-year education programs and associates
degrees. The Commission's scope includes colleges in California, Hawaii, and American
territories such as Puerto Rico and protectorates in the Pacific Ocean. (Academic Senate
for California Community Colleges, 2010).
In 1962, ACCJC was formed. Multiple accrediting agencies formed a coalition to
create WASC. The ACCJC is not a governmental entity but an independent organization
of educators and others representing public interest (Academic Senate for California
Community Colleges, 2010). The process of accreditation includes colleges applying to
become members of the ACCJC and subsequent voluntary participation in the
accreditation process. Any college wishing to include disbursal of federal financial aid or
participate in federal financial aid programs must be accredited. Additionally,
accreditation serves to elevate an institutions academic standing and reputation in the
community. Accreditation ostensibly is a measure of academic efficacy. For students, the
public, and the educational community, accreditation is a quality measure. It also speaks
to the professionalism and integrity of the faculty, staff, administration, and trustees of
the college (Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, 2010).
Accreditation does not, according to the US Department of Education (1998)
make provision for automatic acceptance by an institution of credit earned at another
institution, nor does it give assurance of acceptance of graduates by employers.

Acceptance of students or graduates is always the prerogative of the receiving institution

or employer. In addition to screening the accreditation status of a school or program,
students should --before enrolling at a school or institution of higher education, -seek to ascertain whether or not their educational goals will be met through attendance at
a particular college. Preliminary research should include inquiries to institutions to which
transfer might be desired or to prospective employers and, if possible, personal inspection
of the institution at which enrollment is contemplated (US Department of Education,
1998).

References

(The) Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. (March 16, 2010). 2002
Accreditation Standards: Implementation. Sacramento, CA: ASCCC, 2004. Web.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accrediting_Commission_for_Community_and_Ju
nior_Colleges#References
Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools, (2016). https://www.abhes.org/
Accrediting Council For Independent Colleges and Schools. (2016).
http://www.acics.org/
Current List of Nationally Recognized Accrediting Agencies and the Criteria for
Recognition by the U.S. Secretary of Education. (September 1998). U.S.
Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education.
http://www.ifap.ed.gov/aagencies/aagencies/attachments/brochure.pdf
Rudolph, Frederick. (1962). The American college and university. New York: Alfred A.
Knopf.
United States Department of Education, (2016). Accreditation in the United States.
http://www2.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html