UTRGV is preparing to submit its accreditation reaffirmation report to SACSCOC in September.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) “is the regional body for the accreditation degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states,” according to its website.
The reaffirmation is awarded to member institutions every 10 years.
Members must send a report “that addresses the standards that the members have to abide by, and explains how we are in compliance with all of those standards,” said Christine Shupala, associate vice president for Institutional Accreditation at UTRGV.
There are 69 standards that institutions must abide by in order to receive accreditation or reaffirmation.
UTRGV was originally going to submit the report in 2017, but because the university was placed on accreditation probation in 2016, it will be submitted to SACSCOC in early September.
The reaffirmation is not related to the probation, which was lifted last December.
An off-campus consultant was hired to review the report to ensure it is “exemplary.”
The university expects an “advisory visit” in June by Patricia L. Donat, vice president of SACSCOC.
“It’s just a second level of assurance that we are doing what we need to be doing,” Shupala said.
Once the off-site report is sent, the university will receive a review of the report by the end of the year. The review will consist of any questions that the report leaves unanswered.
Answers will be sent before March 2020, in which a team will conduct an on-site review of UTRGV campuses.
“The team comes in March,” Shupala said. “When they leave we will have an idea of how they felt, if they had any recommendations or if everything
is fine.”
During the visit in March, students might be asked to volunteer to speak to the team about the university.
“It’s important for [students] to know that this is going on,” Shupala said. “There will be a time in 2020, in March of 2020, when we might ask them for their help to come in and talk to some of the people that are here visiting campus.”
The SACSCOC board of trustees will vote in December 2020 on reaffirmations for four-year institutions and those that offer graduate degrees. The next 10-year reaffirmation report will be submitted in 2027.
“I think that UTRGV is in great shape in regards to reaffirmation,” Shupala told The Rider. “I don’t expect any issues. So, I think it will be an exciting time.”
