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University prepares for
SACS team visit
NC State will soon welcome an eight-member visiting team representing the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). From March 23 to 25, the team will interview administrators, faculty, and students to discover how the university addresses 73 accreditation standards ranging from academic policy to business practices.
The visiting team
will focus primarily on a new accreditation requirement for a quality
enhancement plan. NC State’s plan, called “Learning in a Technology-Rich
Environment” (LITRE), calls for ongoing research into strategies
for using technology to improve student learning and to enrich the learning
environment at NC State. The first wave of research projects address classroom
technology and well-equipped, team study areas for students. The LITRE
plan may be viewed at http://litre.ncsu.edu/pdf/litre_qep.pdf.
(RELATED: LITRE
plan complete,
ready for implementation)
Mathematics professor and Assistant to the Provost for LITRE Lavon Page is beginning to implement the LITRE plan, which is based on campus input and a thorough review of NC State’s learning environment. The LITRE plan was developed over 18 months by a team co-chaired by Natural Resources professor Hugh Devine and DELTA Associate Vice Provost Sharon Pitt.
The visiting team will also determine NC State’s compliance with accreditation standards based on reports prepared by two teams headed by CHASS professor Will Kimler, PAMS professor Jeff Scroggs, university assessment director Ephraim Schechter, and accreditation liaison Karen Helm.
The university has been preparing for this visit since January 2002. Based on the team’s recommendations, SACS will decide the university’s accreditation in December 2004.
The visiting team will be chaired by Dr. Jack Lohmann, associate provost at Georgia Tech, and it will include two special consultants chosen to advise NC State on implementing the LITRE plan: Dr. Carole Barone, Vice President of EDUCAUSE and head of the National Learning Infrastructure Initiative, and Dr. Bradley Wheeler, Dean of Information Technology at Indiana University.
Other visiting team members include: Dr. Jack Blanton, University of Kentucky; Dr. David Ford, Virginia Tech; Dr. Fred Heath, University of Texas; Dr. Mary Korfhage, University of Louisville; and Dr. Stephen Melsheimer, Clemson University. The team will be assisted SACS’ associate executive director Dr. Tom Benberg. Dr. Kathleen Moore, University of South Florida will observe the process in preparation for a SACS visit there next year. The team’s interview schedule will become known about ten days before the visit.
For more information, visit the university’s accreditation website at www2.acs.ncsu.edu/UPA/accreditation/index.htm. Questions may be directed to Karen Helm at 515-6648, who is coordinating accreditation efforts, or to Carol Smith at 515-6431, who is coordinating the visit.
Posted March 17, 2004
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