Using Management Quality Techniques for Accreditation

Abstract

An important characteristic of the latest generation of postsecondary accreditation is the application of business quality initiatives, for instance, the Academic Quality Improvement Project (AQIP) and the education category of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA). These approaches were first developed in the field of business management; they have been used by many institutions of higher education in recent years in certain areas. Some of the US regional and specialized accrediting agencies now require institutions to use these approaches, partly to address the public calls for greater levels of accountability of colleges and universities today. The higher education scholar, Martin Trow (1996) states that provided academic accreditation is viewed as the process by which higher education qualifies and polices itself as opposed to the alternatives, superior systems of improving academe may not receive full attention. Nevertheless, enhancements and other options for the required accreditation self-reviews are currently being implemented by a large number of accreditation associations and institutions being reviewed, and will be investigated in this chapter. Trow also suggests that a more analytical self-study of existing internal institutional quality management processes be considered, perhaps looking at the examples from the international higher education community.