Accreditation of Forestry Programs

From Safopedia

Society of American Foresters

International Society of Tropical Foresters

Contents 1 Accreditation of Forestry Programs 1.1 What is Accreditation? 1.2 Accreditation has many functions and elements as listed below: 1.2.1 Functions 1.2.2 Elements 1.3 SAF Accreditation Today 1.4 References Accreditation of Forestry Programs

Terry Clark, Society of American Foresters

In 1934, the President of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) and professor at Yale University, H. H. Chapman, wrote, “educational preparation… is the method which organized society has found most efficient for itself and for the individual in acquiring rapidly and at the outset of a professional career a body of knowledge which constitutes the most useful findings on forestry by the most capable individuals of past and present.” At that time, forestry educational programs varied considerably in faculty and curriculum. The SAF Council was concerned that an applicant for Junior membership possess a basic professional education in “the principles, purposes, technical knowledge, and procedure of foresters as a profession.” To help address this issue, SAF began to accredit professional forestry schools the following year.

Through SAF’s continued reassessment, the accreditation processes and standards have been reviewed and revised periodically to assure that professional foresters meet contemporary needs. As institutions of higher learning have responded to the challenges and opportunities by graduating foresters with the specialized knowledge to meet the changing demands, accreditation has been modified to accredit of specific curricula within the forestry school rather than the school itself.

What is Accreditation?

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (http://www.chea.org/default.asp) defines accreditation in higher education as a collegial process based on a private, voluntary system of self examination and peer review as a means of assuring and improving the academic quality and public accountability. Peers evaluate an institution or academic program and assist the faculty and staff in improving it by employing criteria that reflects the qualities of a sound educational program and established procedures for evaluating institutions or programs. Because it developed from a diverse set of institutions, accreditation is a flexible and adaptive process.

There are two basic types of educational accreditation: institutional and specialized or programmatic. Specialized or programmatic accreditation, such as that conducted by SAF, normally applies to programs, departments, or schools that are parts of an institution. The accredited unit may be as large as a college or school within a university or as small as a curriculum within a discipline.

Accreditation has many functions and elements as listed below:

Functions

• Verifying that an institution or program meets established standards;

• Assisting prospective students in identifying acceptable institutions;

• Assisting institutions in determining the acceptability of transfer credits;

• Helping to identify institutions and programs for the investment of public and private funds;

• Protecting an institution against harmful internal and external pressure;

• Creating goals for self-improvement of weaker programs and stimulating a general raising of standards among educational institutions;

• Involving the faculty and staff comprehensively in institutional evaluation and planning;

• Establishing criteria for professional certification and licensure and for upgrading courses offering such preparation; and

• Providing one of several considerations used as a basis for determining eligibility for Federal assistance.

Elements

• Standards: The accrediting agency, in collaboration with educational institutions, establishes standards.

• Self-study: The institution or program seeking accreditation prepares an in-depth self-evaluation study that measures its performance against the standards established by the accrediting agency.

• On-site Evaluation: A team selected by the accrediting agency visits the institution or program to determine first-hand if the applicant meets the established standards.

• Publication: Upon being satisfied that the applicant meets its standards, the accrediting agency grants accreditation or reaccredidation status and lists the institution or program in an official publication with other similarly accredited or reaccredited institutions or programs.

• Monitoring: The accrediting agency monitors each accredited institution or program throughout the period of accreditation to verify that it continues to meet the agency standards.

• Reevaluation: The accrediting agency periodically reevaluates each institution or program that it lists to ascertain whether continuation of its accredited or reaccredited status is warranted.

SAF Accreditation Today

There are currently fifty institutions with one or more SAF accredited and candidate programs in the United States. The SAF standards require an educational program to demonstrate clarity and purpose; and show that it has a professional curriculum, a functioning organization and administrative structure, procedures to maintain faculty and students, and the physical resources and facilities to carry out the educational objectives. Many universities and colleges with SAF accredited programs provide instruction in a variety of specialized fields including forest watershed management and hydrology, forest engineering, forest recreation, and agroforestry.

The SAF Council has recognized that it is in the best interest of the SAF and the profession to recognize the importance of specialized forestry training. SAF recently approved specialized accreditation standards, procedures, and guidelines for programs in urban forestry to insure that these evolving programs meet the rigorous standards of a forestry education while produce graduates with the skills and knowledge for employment in this field. However, SAF is not the only organization to accredit specialized educational programs at schools of forestry and natural resources. For example, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (http://www.abet.org/) accredits forest engineering and GIS programs, National Recreation and Park Association (http://www.nrpa.org/content/default.aspx?documentId=26) accredits programs in parks, recreation and leisure service, and the Society of Wood Science and Technology (http://www.swst.org/accredit.html) accredits wood science and technology programs. Where appropriate, a program may be accredited by SAF and one of the other organizations. The Society of Wood Science and Technology and SAF have parallel processes and routinely conduct joint site visits.

As accreditation of forestry educational programs evolved, SAF sought external endorsement of its accreditation standards and practices through the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and succeeding accrediting bodies. SAF is currently recognized as a specialized accrediting organization by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening higher education through strengthening accreditation. CHEA recognition entails a process of review of the quality and effectiveness of accrediting organizations based on five standards:

1. Advance academic quality. Accreditors are required to have a clear definition of quality and clear expectations that the institutions or programs they accredit have processes to determine whether quality standards are being met.
2. Demonstrate accountability. Accreditors are required to have standards that call for institutions and programs to provide consistent, reliable information about academic quality and student achievement to foster continuing public confidence and investment.
3. Encourage purposeful change and needed improvement. Accreditors are required to encourage planning for purposeful change and scrutiny for needed improvement through ongoing self-examination in institutions and programs.
4. Employ appropriate and fair procedures in decision-making. Accreditors are required to maintain appropriate and fair organizational policies and procedures that include effective checks and balances.
5. Continually reassess accreditation practices. Accreditors are required to undertake self-scrutiny of their accrediting activities.

In its evaluation of SAF as an accrediting organization, CHEA not only evaluates SAF accreditation of professional forestry degree programs but also considers “accreditation review activity” not part of the current CHEA-recognized scope of accreditation including forest technology school recognition and continuing education programs.

References

Chapman, H.H. 1934. Proposed Standards for Junior and Senior Membership of the Society of American Foresters in Journal of Forestry, Volume 32, Number 6, 1 August 1934. Society of American Foresters. Washington, DC

Council for Higher Education Accreditation. 2007. Informing the Public about Accreditation. Available online at http://www.chea.org/default.asp. Washington, DC

Posted 27 February 2008 |}