ABC accreditation
Accountability to society and the State is established as one of the main objectives of Accreditation because education must respond to the needs of society, and for this it must aim for excellence in quality in the different factors that comprise it, such as the mission and institutional project, research, relevance and social impact, thus seeking the full recognition of the community in general and complying with the guidelines proposed by the State.
For this reason, as established by the National Accreditation Council (CNA), accreditation should be seen as the way for the State to recognize the quality of higher education institutions and academic programs. In this sense, accreditation is voluntary and channels the efforts of institutions to carry out their systematic evaluation, that of their programs and, in general, of the service they provide to society.
What is Institutional Accreditation?
The accreditation of academic programs or of an institution is the recognition that attests that the services provided are of high quality, since they comply with the requirements demanded in accordance with the regulations established for this purpose, in addition to the social prestige that this has.
What are we being evaluated?
In the evaluation for accreditation, different institutional factors are evaluated, such as the mission, the institutional project, the educational project of the program, students, professors, academic processes, institutional welfare, organization, administration and institutional management, graduates, physical and financial resources.
What do we evaluate ourselves?
The self-evaluation process consists of the analysis and reflection that is carried out internally, to identify weaknesses and strengths in the actions that are executed. This allows the design of improvement plans, which lead to respond to the findings in order to guarantee the quality of education.
Accreditation Process
1. Enlistment
2. Self-evaluation
3. External evaluation visit
4. Issuance of an administrative act or recommendation regarding the request for accreditation
Six key questions about accreditation
What is program accreditation for?
The accreditation process, integrally considered, has the following objectives:
- To promote the improvement of the quality of higher education.
- To be a mechanism for higher education institutions to be accountable to society and the State for the educational service they provide.
- To promote the suitability and soundness of the institutions that provide public higher education services.
- To be an incentive for institutions to verify the fulfillment of their mission, purposes and objectives within the framework of the constitution and the law, and in accordance with their own bylaws.
- To promote the permanent self-examination of academic institutions and programs in the context of a culture of evaluation.
- To be an instrument through which the State publicly attests to the quality of higher education institutions and programs.
- To provide reliable information to users of higher education services and to feed the National Information System created by law.
- To be an incentive for academics, to the extent that it allows them to objectify the meaning and credibility of their work and to promote the recognition of their achievements.
Who are the actors in the accreditation process?
- The institution must engage seriously and responsibly in a deep and sincere self-evaluation, capable of assessing its successes and failures, both in the accumulation of the necessary requirements for good academic quality, as well as the processes and results through which it intends to strive for excellence. Accreditation should be based on an evaluative process, which should not only account for a specific situation, but also for a dynamic process of the institution, rescuing the achievements obtained during a period of time and the goals that have been set, the planning that has been planned to achieve the objectives, and the mechanisms and resources agreed upon to be carried out.
- The academic peers appointed by the National Accreditation Council examine the relevance, veracity and effectiveness of the internal process and the results of the self-evaluation, in light of the quality criteria and the instruments defined by this council.
- The National Accreditation Council, composed of academics who preside over the entire process, organizes the procedures, oversees them, attests to their quality and finally recommends to the Minister of Education that programs and institutions that deserve accreditation be accredited. In addition, it sets growth targets for those that have not yet reached them, according to agreed quality levels.
- The Minister of Education is responsible for issuing the accreditation act.
Does the Accreditation expire?
Accreditation is "temporary" for 6, 8 or 10 years, according to the board's criteria, and must be renewed through self-evaluation and external evaluation processes.
What is institutional self-evaluation?
Self-evaluation should be a permanent practice that enables a critical look at the way in which institutions and programs assume the development of all processes, in order to ensure the quality of the services they offer. Regarding this concept, the University of La Guajira has considered "self-evaluation as a permanent process of the various strata that enables the continuous improvement of the activities of the University of La Guajira", this notion, henceforth, will frame the actions that the university undertakes in this matter, will generate a favorable environment to achieve an effective participation of all its strata, and will ensure the very success of the process.
Is Accreditation mandatory?
No, it is voluntary. Law 30 of 1992 gives higher education institutions the freedom to join the National Accreditation System, which implies that this is a different process from the inspection and surveillance process to be exercised by the State, and therefore, Accreditation does not replace it.
How can I participate?
You can be part of the process by participating in the working groups organized by each faculty, leaving your questions, doubts or comments in the institutional social networks, through the chat or in the "Participate" section.
