|
ASPA Newsletter - July 1997 Issue Theme: "Happy 4th Birthday, ASPA!!!!"
Name the Newsletter ASPA is having a contest to name its new newsletter which will be published twice each year, in June/July and December/January. The newsletter will be broadly distributed to audiences with an interest in education and accreditation ASPA's chair and executive director will select the winning entry. If your entry wins, you will receive a prize of $100 to use to treat your staff to lunch on ASPA. Submit your entry, with your registration for the fall meeting, to the ASPA office by August 7, 1997. Looking Ahead to Tucson Did you know??? The next ASPA meeting will be September 7-8-9, 1997 at Loew's Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Arizona. ASPA welcomes guests at its meetings and, to facilitate the lively exchange of ideas from varied sources, conducts most of its business in open sessions. All meetings held on Monday, September 8, 1997 will be open. Members and guests are especially encouraged to attend the Board of Directors meeting. Issues of relevance to both the board and membership (i.e., the financial report) will be discussed during the board meeting and won't be repeated during the membership meeting. Chair, Carol Bobby has promised that meeting attendees will have a little bit of free time at the end of a busy Monday. If she meets her a goal of adjourning the meeting by 4:30pm, there should be time for some golf or tennis or a little spa-time before you meet a few of your colleagues for an "on-your-own" dinner. In addition to five major restaurants and lounges, Ventana Canyon Resort boasts a popular lakeside nightclub, a nationally known 18-hole PGA Fazio golf course, ten lighted tennis courts, a croquet green, two swimming pools and jacuzzis, health club, spa, nature trail, par course and nearby mountain biking, hiking, and horseback riding. Contact the hotel for prices of specific activities. The ASPA group room rate of $85/night is available three days before and after the meeting, subject to availability. Call hotel reservations at: 800-234-5117 or (520) 299-2020 prior to the room release date of August 7, 1997. And - to take advantage of ASPA's $50.00 "early bird" discount, send the enclosed meeting registration form, with your check made payable to ASPA, to the office before August 7, 1997. My Birthday Card to ASPA By Carol L. Bobby, ASPA Chair In May, I had the pleasure of being invited to speak with the member agency representatives of the Association of Accrediting Agencies of Canada (AAAC) about the types of issues that specialized and professional accreditors in the United States are facing. The AAAC, as a newly formed national organization, indicated to me that they were interested in how ASPA assists its members with these issues. They were interested in learning from both our successes and our continuing concerns. In preparing for my meeting with the AAAC, I decided to give myself the luxury of just sitting still for an hour to think about ASPA and our accomplishments. What I began to realize during this hour astonished me. First of all, I realized that I was being asked to attend a lot of meetings and accept speaking engagements as a result of my role as ASPA's chair. Although I pride myself on being knowledgeable about accreditation, I knew it was having the ASPA credential behind my name that caused people to call me and not the fact that I have 11 years of accreditation experience behind my name. The AAAC meeting was but one example of this. I have also represented ASPA at conferences or meetings of the Center for Quality Assurance in International Education, the Association for Assessment in Higher Education, the CHEA-NASULGC initiative on enhancing the usefulness of specialized accreditation, the Council on Licensure, Enforcement, and Regulation (CLEAR), and the UCSF and Pew-supported Task Force on Health Professions Education Accreditation. In short, ASPA has been asked to be an active player on many fronts. Continuing down this path of thought, I asked myself why we were being recognized on so many fronts. I realized that the quality of our documents and our semi-annual meetings spoke well on our behalf. ASPA member agencies have proven themselves to be thoughtful and deliberate thinkers who are able to critically analyze accreditation issues and the impact of change. From our Bylaws to the ASPA Member Code of Good Practice, we have carefully expressed our belief that accreditation is a positive and cooperative endeavor that benefits the US system of higher education. Our meetings have also been substantive. This past year we have explored issues surrounding distance education and outcomes assessment. We have been able to attract high level speakers on these issues and both our members and guests have profited. In summary, we have spoken thoughtfully and placed professional development as a high priority and this has been noticed. The ASPA membership has also endorsed several initiatives which have furthered our credibility as a strong and united voice for the specialized and professional accrediting community. The mailing of over 6,000 letters to presidents and provosts of colleges and universities to tell them about the ASPA Member Code of Good Practice is one of the initiatives we should be most proud of. The letter was well received and has served as an important referent for many academic administrators of ASPA's willingness to sit at the table as equal participants in the quest for quality in higher education. ASPA also was asked and agreed to work with several regional accrediting associations on outlining the design for successful collaborative site visits. This initiative will result in a document that can be used by accreditors and institutions alike. In addition, ASPA has actively reviewed documents pertinent to the re-authorization of the Higher Education Act, while keeping abreast of comments being supplied by other interested educational agencies, such as CHEA. Finally, our executive director, Cynthia Davenport was specifically invited to participate in a Triad meeting hosted by the US Department of Education and has been very active in editing documents to the benefit of specialized accreditation. In other words, we take thoughtful action in expressing our views. Closer to the homefront, did you realize that this past year alone ASPA also...
The bottom line here is that ASPA is not a stagnant entity, but is one that is responsive to our changing needs and can take care of necessary business. If I could come up with all of these successes at the end of one hour of contemplation, just think what I could come up with if I had gone through all of the ASPA minutes! As I realized that it has been just four years since I filed the ASPA Articles of Incorporation in a dingy government building in DC, I felt such a surge of pride in what we ASPA members have accomplished in that short time period. But it is the recognition we have begun to see this past year that indicates the importance of our foundational documents and our subsequent actions. We are fortunate to have the support of a very professional executive director, Cynthia Davenport, to move us forward as we continue to grow and prosper. So as I wish ASPA a very happy 4th birthday, let me tip my hat to all of you and to Cynthia for the hard work and dedication that has brought us to this point. March Meeting Highlights The ASPA Board and Membership met in Washington, DC on March 7, 1997. The Washington location drew a number of guests, some who attended an ASPA meeting for the first time. Some meeting highlights follow. The ASPA board and members will receive meeting minutes in a separate mailing; others may request a copy by contacting the ASPA office.)
The Friday Board/Membership meetings were sandwiched between two days which were also very full. Task forces and committees met to discuss their reports and plan next steps. ASPA's accomplishments are directly linked to the dedication of the chairs and members of these groups. Thanks so much to each of you. The day concluded with a special facilitated discussion on the Task Force on Health Professions Education Accreditation, led by Sherril Gelmon, who refers with pride to her role as the founding chair of ASPA. The Professional Development Committee, chaired by Laura Messenger, Psychology, planned a full day of professional development on the topic: "Outcomes: Here Today - Here Tomorrow." In the morning, Karen W. Kershenstein, US Department of Education, and Barbara Cambridge, American Association of Higher Education's Assessment Forum, spoke about "Linking Outcomes to Good Accreditation Practice." In the afternoon, three groups of ASPA-member "Accreditors in Action" shared specific materials and examples of the use of outcomes in standards, self-studies, and on-site. Feedback indicated that this was a successful, interactive day. Congratulations, ProD Committee, for another well-planned day. On the Tucson Agenda The September 8, 1997 meeting to be held in Tucson is already jam-packed. The ~4 page draft agenda will be sent to the ASPA board and members; others may contact the ASPA office for a copy. Here are a few meeting highlights. If you have other topics to suggest, please contact the office as quickly as possible.
ASPA Goes to Meetings
Upcoming Events
| ||||||||||||||||