Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges.  The purpose of accreditation is to enhance the quality of education and the effectiveness of institutions in eleven southern states, including Texas.

Accreditation by the Commission on Colleges signifies that the institution:

• has a mission appropriate to higher education;  
• has resources, programs, and services sufficient to accomplish and sustain that mission; and
• maintains clearly specified educational objectives that are consistent with its mission and appropriate to the degrees it offers, and that indicate whether it is successful in achieving its stated objectives.

           
A&M-Corpus Christi is currently undergoing SACS reaffirmation, a peer-review process that will culminate in a campus visit in spring 2010. There are two main parts to the reaffirmation process: Compliance Certification and the Quality Enhancement Plan.  Success in both is vital to the reaffirmation of the university, and many staff, administrators, and faculty are working to ensure the process is completed smoothly. 

Compliance Certification — CLICK HERE TO VIEW REPORT.
A&M-Corpus Christi is conducting a thorough self-study, guided by the requirements of SACS, to accomplish its compliance review.

Under the 2008 Principles of Accreditation, the Commission evaluates an institution and makes accreditation decisions based on the following:

• Compliance with the Principle of Integrity
• Compliance with the Core Requirements
• Compliance with the Comprehensive Standards
• Compliance with additional Federal Requirements
• Compliance with the policies of the Commission on Colleges

 
The university’s compliance will be documented in a Compliance Report due in September 2009. This self-study rigorously measures the quality of our faculty, the courses being offered, the support offered to students, and all staff and services of the campus.

Quality Enhancement Plan
A new facet of SACS reaffirmation is the requirement that institutions create a quality enhancement plan (QEP). The plan is reviewed and approved by the SACS review committee that visits the campus. The QEP is an opportunity to reinvest in our core mission, ameliorate our weaknesses, and build on our strengths.

At A&M-Corpus Christi, we have focused on serving first-year students since 1994, when the learning communities program was initiated. Excellence based on continuous reflection and revision led to the Texas STAR Award in 2003 and being named a Foundation of Excellence for students in the first year of college in 2004. 

In spite of these recognitions, those who work with and teach first-year students are not satisfied with their level of success, and feel that our efforts need continuous refinement if we are to continue to be a leader in learning communities and the first-year experience. Data have been examined and are continuing to be examined to identify challenges that students face that seem particularly troubling. Success in math, facility in reading, and academic expectations and motivation have been identified as areas needing attention.

After a year and a half of campus conversations and committee work, faculty have chosen the First Year Islander (FYI) experience as our quality enhancement plan focus. It allows us to build on our strengths and address our weaknesses; it is broad-based and will impact large numbers of students; it will engage faculty, staff, librarians, and advisors in all the colleges and many programs, including those providing bridge, tutoring, and honors’ experiences for first-year students.

This year, a broad-based steering committee is deciding the most effective areas of focus, methods, and resources needed to make significant improvements to existing programs and for new programs. Our goal is to remake the First Year Islander (FYI) experience into something supportive, engaging, and challenging for all students.

Do you know your

Q-E-P?

Come find out !!!

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