Richard A. Tevis, Ed.D. Feb. 15, 2014 The Northern California Educational Leadership Research Symposium Burk Hall 177, S

1. Effects of Accreditation on the Mission and Vision of Three Private Christian Colleges in Northern California: Perceptions of Faculty and Administrators Richard A. Tevis, Ed.D. Feb. 15, 2014 The Northern California Educational Leadership Research Symposium Burk Hall 177, San Francisco State University

2. Ch. 1: Nature of the Study Research Questions 1. What value does accreditation bring to a private Christian college? 2. To what extent does accreditation affect the mission and vision of such an institution? 3. How does a lack of accreditation affect such an institution?

3. Ch. 1: Types of Accreditation • Regional Accreditation - often seen as the common form of institutional quality assurance for higher education institutions. According to Judith Eaton (2000), there are six core academic values: institutional autonomy; collegiality and shared governance; faculty intellectual and academic authority; the degree; general education; and site-based education and a community of learning. • National Accreditation - typically for career-based and single-purpose institutions • Specialized Accreditation - usually reviews professional programs and schools related to, for example, art, music, architecture, law, medicine, and business (Eaton, 2001).

4. Ch. 1: Conceptual Framework • Systems theory in relation to the overall accountability structure of higher education. • Major concepts 1. Accreditation 2. Mission statements

5. Ch. 2: Literature ReviewDefinition of Accreditation • Accountability system in education that is voluntarily sought by institutions and conferred by independent, autonomous bodies. • Uniquely indicative of the American educational system. • Most other countries utilize government agencies to set and maintain educational standards. (TRACS, 2012)

6. Ch. 2: Summary • Accreditation can be a challenge for private Christian colleges (Benne, 2001). • It is difficult to find articles that specify what areas are adversely affected by accrediting bodies. • It appears that the perceptions of administrators and faculty in regards to their role in Christian education and their mission have not been thoroughly researched (Dressel, 1987).

7. Ch. 3: Methodology Research design • Qualitative study – uses a constructivist or participatory perspective • Phenomenology – attempts to build the inquiry from the essence of human experience of the participants (Creswell, 2008)

8. Ch. 3: Research Design • Documented the perception of faculty and administrators of 4-year private Christian colleges • Used 1-hour, one-on-one interviews • Interview included semi-structured, open-ended questions • CSUS Library did not carry some relevant literature, namely the journal Christian Higher Education

9. Ch. 3: Setting & Sample Three college sites were chosen. 1. Alpha College: medium-sized (1,300 students), regionally accredited Christian liberal arts college 2. Beta College: small (300 students), nationally accredited Bible college 3. Delta College: small (100 students), church-based, non-accredited Bible college

10. Ch. 3: Setting & Sample (cont.) Researcher interviewed one administrator and two faculty members from each site. Each participant was designated by college, position and number [i.e., Alpha A (Alpha College, Administrator); Beta F1 (Beta College Faculty Member #1)]. Because there was only one administrator from each college, there will not be a number for administrators just the letter A.

11. Ch. 4: Findings - Participant Demographics

12. Ch. 4: Comparison & Contrast of Responses

13. Ch. 4: Comparison & Contrast of Responses

14. Ch. 4: Comparison & Contrast of Responses

15. Ch. 4: Theoretical Framework Basic Model of Systems Theory Inputs Organization Outputs Transformation Process Feedback The External Environment

16. Ch. 4: Theoretical Framework Systems Theory model of Accreditation Inputs College Outputs Financial Aid Accountability Collaboration Outside Mission between Agency Analysis Institutions Reputation Feedback (Constituency) The External Environment (Community)

17. Ch. 5: Recommendations • Each private Christian college should conduct a mission analysis in order to determine the mission and purpose of their institution. (Alpha F2) • Each private Christian college should formulate a mission statement that carefully details the mission of its institution. • From this mission statement, each private Christian college should determine whether or not accreditation is necessary in order to fulfill their mission. (Alpha F2) • If it is determined that accreditation is necessary, then a careful examination should be conducted to determine what type of accreditation is necessary to carry out the mission of the private Christian college. (Beta A)

18. Ch. 5: Implications for Further Study • Research needs to done on a larger scale over an extended period of time with multiple sites in multiple states, if possible, utilizing more quantitative data from accrediting bodies, both secular and Christian. • Further research needs to be conducted into the idea of whether it is accreditation itself that leads to the secularization of Christian institutions of higher education, or are there other factors involved.

19. Ch. 5: Conclusion • Many of the participants stated that accreditation is valuable, but some were concerned about it changing their mission or purpose. • Some even stated that for certain institutions their mission might not require accreditation. • The researcher has come to the conclusion that the key for the private Christian college is to genuinely know its mission and purpose.

20. Effects of Accreditation on the Mission and Vision of Three Private Christian Colleges in Northern California: Perceptions of Faculty and Administrators To access dissertation via ScholarWorks http://hdl.handle.net/10211.9/2052 To contact Richard Tevis Richard.Tevis@ccscougars.org