Guiding Principle: Treat Accreditation as a Shared Institutional Development Process
- mcphersonqualityma
- Apr 9
- 2 min read
I know that right now that there are institutions in Trinidad and Tobago preparing for re-accreditation.
I hope that this post provides a measure of relieve to you in some way – no matter how small.
To those institutions world-wide that have some time before re-accreditation is due and those registered institutions saying that accreditation is a goal, take copious notes and then start to act.
Establish a Steering Committee. Include representatives from each major unit: academic, administrative, student services, finance, HR, IT, quality assurance...Appoint a Project Leader to manage deadlines.
Understand and break down the Criteria for Accreditation. Assign each criterion (or sub-criterion) to a small working group based on area expertise.
3. Hold a Kickoff Meeting for Awareness & Buy-In. Explain the benefits of accreditation. For example, increased student intake and graduation rate. Share the criteria and clarity roles and expectations
4. Create an Accreditation Evidence Matrix: a shared table on Excel or Google Docs with the following columns: Criterion, Responsible Person, Evidence required, Source of evidence, Status and Upload location.
5. Centralize document collection.
6. Examples of Evidence by Department. For example, Academic – Program Specifications; HR – Recruitment policies and Quality Assurance – Quality Manual.
7. Host Regular Check-Ins. Bi-weekly or monthly update meetings with all criterion leads.
8. Conduct a Mock Internal Review. Before the regulatory agency visits have a simulated audit. Use regulatory agency’s criteria as the checklist. Identify and address gaps.
9. Provide Training and Support. Offer tutorials like is done for students. Decide what counts as evidence. Check document formatting and versioning.
10. Celebrate Milestones. Acknowledge staff contributions. Release progress updates via emails or noticeboards.
Begin to develop the Self-Study report based on regulatory agency’s guidelines.
Kereen R. McPherson
CEO/Founder
KRMcPherson Quality Management (KQM)
LI: www.linkedin.com/in/ms-kereen-mcpherson-71608266IG: https://www.instagram.com/krmqmanagement?igsh=MXEyMTllbmhxc251aw==
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#Accreditation #AccreditationSteeringComittee #CriteriaforAccreditation # EvidenceMatrix #SelfStudy # EvidencebyDepartment #AuditChecklist
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