News from CEA, May 3, 2004

This memo highlights items from the April 16-18, 2004 meeting of the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation and other information of interest.

Accreditation Decisions

As required by the U.S. Department of Education, CEA makes its accreditation decisions public.

Accredited for one year—April 2004 – April 2005
Center for English as a Second Language, University of Arizona

The Commission grants one-year accreditation to a program or institution that substantially meets the CEA Standards but needs to address minor standards–related deficiencies. The program or institution agrees to fully comply with the recommendations of the Commission with a period not to exceed 12 months. The granting of one-year accreditation is the beginning of a 5-year accreditation period.

Welcome to new commissioners

The Commission welcomed four new commissioners in April to begin 3-year terms of service: Bill Merriman, University of Alabama, Terry Simon, Texas Intensive English Program, and Moira A. Lenehan–Martinez, Senior Legislative Assistant, U.S. House of Representatives (Public Member). Commissioners are elected by members of the Constituent Council, from nominations by the Constituent Council, AAIEP, ATESL, TESOL, and UCIEP. As required by the U.S Department of Education, public members, who are appointed by the Commission, do not represent the field of English language teaching.

Re-accreditation fee update

The Commission approved a reduction in–site visit fees for re–accreditation site visits. Realizing the financial constraints which many members of the Constituent Council are facing, the Commission reduced the re-accreditation site visit fee by $250 to $3,750, as compared to $4,000 for initial visits. Programs and institutions seeking re–accreditation pay a $300 application fee, are not required to attend a workshop (although it is recommended if new staff are involved in the self-study), and do not pay the self–study plan fee of $1,600. Also, re–accreditation may be granted for up to 10 years rather than 5 years as for initial accreditation.

Standards review activities

The Standards Review Committee (SRC) of the Commission is responsible for the on-going review and revision of the CEA standards and standards-related materials. In October 2003, through a grant from the TOEFL Board, CEA convened three task forces that focused on standards related issues: distance education, student outcomes, and teacher-training certification. Each of the task forces submitted reports with recommendations for review by the SRC.

Recommendations of the Student Outcomes/Assessment Task Force will result in revision and augmentation of CEA materials in order to provides sites, reviewers, and the Commission improved guidance related to the evaluation of student success. Recommendations by the Teacher Training Certification Task Force, which will also result in revised materials, will provide improved guidance for review of those independent language institutions that offer teacher-training certificate programs. Recommendations by the Distance Education Task Force resulted in the creation of a Distance Education Advisory Subcommittee, which will review the recommendations of the Distance Education Task Force, advise the Commission on those recommendations, and also keep abreast of the ever-changing area of distance education, in terms of instruction and the impact of U.S. government regulations on accreditation practices.

Interim report to the U.S. Department of Education

CEA is required to submit an interim report to the U.S. Department of Education on June 10. Similar to the annual reporting requirement for CEA accredited programs, CEA must respond to several requirements set by the National Advisory Committee when it approved the recognition of CEA as a national accrediting agency. CEA must 1) show an increasingly stable financial picture; 2) expeditiously place academic personnel on its decision-making body; 3) demonstrate implementation of its student achievement standards; 4) more clearly define its requirements for faculty qualifications; 5) demonstrate implementation of its first round of re-accreditation activities; 6) demonstrate that it has a comprehensive, regular, reasonable standards- review procedure.

The requirement for a more clearly defined statement of faculty qualifications resulted in the creation of a Faculty Subcommittee of the Standards Review Committee last fall. The committee distributed a survey, reviewed Faculty standards #1 and #2, and discussed what the base line qualifications for faculty in CEA accredited programs and institutions should be. Following feedback by the Commission, the committee will continue its discussion and forward a recommendation to the Commission at its September meeting.

Status of applications for accreditation

CEA continues to receive new applications for accreditation. Nine sites seeking initial accreditation have targeted site visits for fall 2004, as have three seeking re-accreditation. Participants at the Accreditation Workshop in Long Beach in April included six new sites (two community colleges, one university, and three independent schools).

Constituent Council Meeting

May 29, from 1:30 – 3:30 at the Days Inn Inner Harbor, 100 Hopkins Place in Baltimore. The meeting will include reports by the CEA Executive Committee on the current status of CEA, a report on the work of CEA committees, and discussion of several issues, including the international initiative and the work of the faculty standards subcommittee. While only members of the Constituent Council (accredited programs and institutions) are eligible to vote should there be a vote taken, this is an open meeting, and all who are interested in CEA are encouraged to attend.

A 2-hour re-accreditation workshop will follow the Council meeting.

Accreditation Workshops

CEA will hold its next accreditation workshop on Saturday, May 29, in Baltimore following the NAFSA conference. Programs and institutions interested in attending must have applied for eligibility to CEA. If your program plans to send a participant, please contact CEA for the appropriate registration materials. CEA also offers customized workshops at a site for $1,000 plus the direct costs of bringing one presenter to the site. This allows a site to have all of its faculty and staff in attendance and helps to build a cohesive group into the self-study process. CEA will also do a workshop for several sites in one region, which again allows for multiple participants from one site. For example, representatives of schools in Hawaii are currently trying to arrange for a workshop in that state for interested schools.