Role of Accrediting and Regulatory Bodies in the Higher Education Setting

Role of Accrediting and Regulatory Bodies in the Higher Education Setting
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Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) is the official recognized institution as a nursing accrediting body in the US. It is an independent autonomous body that monitors the quality and authenticity of courses revolving around nursing for the best public interest regarding service delivery and integrity. It does so by frequent assessment of the educational programs and effective practices (Burke, 2003). Accrediting bodies like CCNE offer support for the continued assessment of the nursing programs as these would offer insights for improvement of the professional education and the baccalaureate residency programs… As an accrediting body, its purposes include:
Focus majorly on the quality of education as opposed to narrow perspectives, educational trends or political activities and nurture continued improvement in the professional practice and the nursing programs
Provide the public with information regarding the importance of accreditation and also identification of the accredited nursing programs
It should develop and maintain standards for the accreditation procedures and assessing the extents of accreditation standards met by a nursing program
Collect information from the various sources and analyze them with regard to the nursing programs, institutions and the profession which may provide a standard reference during decision making.
Utilize the analysis results in developing policies and even procedures that initiate better teaching and learning methods, safeguard the independence of the concerned institutions and programs and also maintain trust and cooperation among the various sectors in higher education.
Ensure the presence of expertise and experience among its staff members in applying the standard accreditation procedures and policies
Respect and safeguard institutional autonomy
Core to the accreditation process is the CCNE’s must-fulfill provision of an onsite evaluation of the institution in consideration. Higher education institutions should operationalize the nursing programs they offer to maintain their accreditation. CCNE has the ability to suspend or withdraw the accreditation status of institutions that fail to comply and the withdrawal of the accreditation status becomes effective at the cessation of the program, for example, the withdrawal of the accreditation status of the University of San Diego, CA (initial accreditation date was 3/3/2000) on January 2, 2014.. Voluntary withdrawal from the accreditation process is also allowed. CCNE should be notified of the withdrawal of the accreditation through a written application and is usually without prejudice, for example, University of Southermost Florida, Coral Gables, FL whose withdrawal date was November 20, 2014 (Benjamin, 2010).
There exist standards, procedures and resources set by the accrediting bodies for the accreditation of two major programs: