Comments from Western Dakota Technical Institute concerning its accreditation troubles should make us wonder why we bother with school accreditation in the first place.
When the news came out that the Higher Learning Commission had placed WDTI on probation effective February 25, WDTI president Ann Bolman said that warning had nothing to do with the quality of education at WDTI:
WDTI President Ann Bolman said she agrees with the commission that the school could do a better job of quantifying its progress. But in her eyes, the commission’s findings have little to do with the quality of education at Western Dakota Tech.
“It’s about documenting what we do to make sure we have ongoing quality,” Bolman said.
Although she understands and even agrees with some of the rationale behind the commission’s decision, she is displeased with the probation.
“We don’t agree with the findings of the Higher Learning Commission,” Bolman said, “but we do share their desire for Western Dakota Tech to continuously improve and become the best institution we possibly can be. We are definitely on track and taking the findings of the Higher Learning Commission seriously” [Mike Anderson, “WDTI on Probation; Accreditation at Risk,” Rapid City Journal, 2016.03.11].
Dr. Bolman said the same thing yesterday in a statement she read to the state Board of Education:
It is important to understand the Commission’s concerns have nothing to do with the quality of the education Western Dakota Tech students receive. Instead, the HLC believes improvements can be made to the college’s processes regarding assessment of student learning, persistence and completion rates, and institutional effectiveness. As you know, 98 percent of Western Dakota Tech’s most recently surveyed graduates were either working, in the military, or continuing their education six months after graduation. Every college in the country envies those results, and we are extremely proud to provide an education that prepares students for success [Dr. Ann Bolman, letter, 2016.03.04, presented to South Dakota Board of Education, 2016.03.14].
If an administrator can look an adverse accreditation ruling in the eye and shrug, if she can cite real performance metrics and reputation that indicate the school is doing its job, if accreditation and quality of education are apparently independent of each other, then why bother with accreditation?
grudznick agrees. Accreditation is a waste. Why, back in my day the shop teacher had only one thumb and he was self taught and we all learned just fine.
My sense is you’re asking why accreditation is important is probably rhetorical, but for readers who may not be aware, there’s a variety of reasons. Accreditation can impact whether students qualify for certain support or loans, whether students can transfer course credits to other institutions, and whether the diplomas count toward the pre-req for (say) a graduate degree requirements at another institution, although that last one probably doesn’t matter much to a tech school. There’s a nice discussion about accreditation and why students should care in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, from what I recall.
Graduate of a accredited college looks so good on a diploma.
Trump University was never accredited either… so WDTI might just be trying to mirror the ‘success’ of that organization.
Real world learning and not pompous circumstances are what’s important, Mr. C
Grudz-
I must have had the same shop teacher.
Daugaard said the same thing after the feds slapped the states hand in joops EB5 fraud
they say they are taking it seriously but it is no problem. Typical professional. Never admit to making a mistake. Just talk through it. Then no one will believe you next time. I have three degrees from schools who were all at one time rated the best in the Midwest for a reason. One was not till I went to the Chancellor and got some improvement. There is a process to becoming good or excellent and a process of losing it. There are warnings first and when they are not heeded, then they get to talk as if nothing went wrong and they did not know. Sometimes the process is bad but sometimes the people are not doing their job appropriately. For a PhD to mess up this bad is not good for the profession.
I’m with kingleon. If grades won’t transfer,the students will have to pay to retake a class they passed but didn’t get credit for. Same with instructors who aren’t properly credentialed to teach certain subjects.
Bet he goes to
Doctors
Dentists
Accountants
And other Proffessionals
THAT DON’T HAVE ACCREDITATION
After all accreditation is irrelevant.
I’d like to see the statistics from longitudinal follow-up of employer satisfaction with graduates and needs assessment studies on academic programs before agreeing with WDTI President Ann Bolman’s assessment of quality. I know those studies are foreign to most readers experience but they are essential components of occupational education.
The idea that schools pass minimum hurdles to be accredited went a long way towards improving the education of medical students after the Flexner Report in 1910 – over a hundred years ago. But now we have accrediting bodies accrediting accrediting agencies! And it’s usually their way or the highway. But some hospitals, not satisfied with the $$$ involved in accreditation from the Joint Commission have become directly accredited with CMS, and which is much less expensive…so is there another accrediting agency available for WDTI to obtain accreditation?