The decision was announced at the SACS annual meeting earlier this month in Atlanta.
“This is the best outcome one can get from the process,” said Mary Harrington, UM director of institutional research. “I’m ecstatic!”
SACS officials asked that the Ole Miss compliance report be placed in the conference’s resource room so that other institutions could reference it as a model report.
“I think that speaks very highly of the caliber of the report,” Harrington said. “Also, I was asked to make a presentation at the SACS conference, and we’ve had dozens of people asking for our advice about their reaffirmation.”
SACS liaison Maurice Eftink, UM associate provost and graduate school dean, said reaccreditation involved two main components: a compliance report, basically a checklist of sorts, and a quality enhancement plan, which is a forward-looking plan to enhance student learning in some way.
“Accreditation means that students can be assured that they have qualified teachers and access to a sound curriculum,” Eftink said. “Our quality enhancement plan focuses on improving students’ writing, starting with our freshman writing program.”
According to the reaccreditation report, 93 percent of UM students rate the university’s educational experience as “good or excellent.” By comparison, only 88 percent of students at Southern University Group institutions rated their experiences as “good or excellent.” The Southern University Group comprises 31 public institutions – including all Southeastern Conference schools except Vanderbilt University.
Accreditation is a voluntary method of quality assurance developed more than 100 years ago by American universities and secondary schools. The process aims to ensure schools meet high quality standards.
“It’s about public accountability and recognition,” Eftink said. “Students who receive a diploma from an accredited university can feel certain that their credentials will be valued when they apply for a job or graduate school.”
Dozens of Ole Miss students, faculty and staff members volunteered their time over the last three years to compile the reaccreditation proposal.
“It’s overwhelming to think about all of the people who worked on this,” Harrington said. “It was an incredible process of teamwork and dedication.”
The reaccreditation process previously occurred every 10 years for all SACS institutions, but now involves a five-year interim report.
“At first, it seemed like a bad thing, but now I’m pleased that it’s happening because that way, we are keeping reaffirmation in the forefront of our minds all the time, rather than just once a decade,” Harrington said. “We have a strong commitment to constantly seek ways to improve our quality, and our SACS report offers us the occasion to publicly demonstrate our success.”