Recent SACS visit assures UH-Clear Lake is an "A" university
by Dahnya Jones
UHCLIDIAN Staff

UH-Clear Lake successfully passed a three-day evaluation performed by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools on Feb. 26-28. Administrators believe the university will keep its accreditation for another 10 years.

Accreditation of educational institutions guarantees the quality of education for students interested in knowing how different universities rank. The University has been preparing for the SACS committee since 1998.

Originally accredited in 1976, UH-Clear Lake has continually submitted satisfactory self-studies to the SACS accreditation team demonstrating that the university is meeting established regional standards.

"The visit went well and I was very happy with it," said Dr. Bruce Palmer, UH-Clear Lake's SACS reaffirmation director and steering committee co-chairman. "Four hundred and forty things have to be demonstrated, and we hit all but 21 of them. We know where we have problems, we just don't know what they are yet."

The university is responsible for submitting annual compliance and self-study reports to SACS of any changes that take place and present updates regarding SACS suggestions for improvement. Specific areas are compiled into a checklist of criteria that must be met to keep accreditation. Until SACS sends its final report in a few months, the university will not know the exact details on the areas of improvement.

Along with Dr. Fred Kierstead and Dr. Edward Hayes, other co-chairs of UH-Clear Lake's SACS steering committee, Dr. Palmer provided guidance and direction down the path of the reaffirmation process.

During the visit, the SACS committee scanned the university environment for four components: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The committee then issued a preliminary report with suggestions for improvements that the university will use to create proposals for future development. All four components, along with compliance and self-study, are compiled into one assessment, which essentially resulted in a final grade for the university.

"We have an 'A' institution," Dr. Palmer said.

Overall, the visit left the university with a positive outlook, despite the few suggested areas for improvement that will be described in the final SACS report.

"I was very pleased with the SACS visit," said Dr. Darlene Biggers, dean of students. "I thought the university community had prepared well for the visit and the visitors were very bright, dedicated individuals who gave us insightful suggestions."

As soon as the university receives the details of the suggested criteria changes, updated accreditation is to take place sometime this fall.

To find out more about the SACS accreditation process and which schools are accredited, visit the SACS Web site at www.sacs.org.