New academic assessment tool AQIP comes to campus

By Rebecca Erdmann

This fall, NCC will become a part of a new assessment and accreditation system known as AQIP, which promises to be both less stressful and less time-consuming.

The transition to AQIP should be a welcome change to the accreditation process at NCC.
It will make the process of accreditation less stressful because preparing for a peer review will take place gradually over the course of a seven-year cycle.

The new system will be beneficial to students, administration and businesses.
AQIP will work with businesses, to learn what they are looking for in potential employees; and the new system will encourage a global perspective, so that students will be prepared to work in a global market.

Under the old system, called PEAK, a college was reviewed every 10 years. A team was sent to the school to see if it met the requirements for accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission. AQIP, which stands for Academic Quality Improvement Program, uses a system of continuous action projects. Through these, a college works to improve and learn to better prepare its students.

Colleges are peer-reviewed every seven years, to see if they are still maintaining their level of quality and meeting accreditation standards.
According to Julie Guelich, the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, one of the hallmarks of the new system is that it is “more inclusive, students will be more involved.”
As part of the action projects, students will be asked to give feedback on lectures and classroom experiences.

These will help the administration know that students are in fact learning, and that their methods of teaching are successful. Departments will also be asked to do self-assessment, to determine if the objectives of their particular area are being met.

These self-assessments are part of AQIP’s continuous assessment theory, where the goal is for a college to show improvement, not just a record of accountability.
Michael Berndt, the Director of Planning and Organizational Learning called AQIP “more forward looking” while the old system of accreditation required a look back at a college’s performance in years past.

There are several advantages to the new accreditation system; most notably that it encourages schools to plan for the future. Michael Berndt said, “AQIP tries to understand the needs of the people it serves, both students and businesses.”
The new system will encourage administrators to look at how prepared students are after college. Are skills learned in college preparing students for the global market? Are students prepared to be global citizens?

In addition to planning for the future, colleges would still have to meet certain standards for accreditation set by the Higher Learning Commission.