A Report to the Council on Aviation Accreditation Board of Directors
from the Ad hoc Committee for Distance Education
Members
Brent Bowen, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Chair
Marc Wilson, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore
Charles Robertson, University of North Dakota
Presented at the CAA Winter Meeting
February 13, 1998
St. Louis, MO
The committee has continued to explore accrediting issues related to distance education on behalf of the charge given by the CAA Board of Directors. Additional follow-up inquiries with key accrediting groups since the last report indicates continuing development of specific standards to address distance education. Since these standards have not been implemented by most major accrediting bodies to date, the committee decided to postpone a follow-up survey suggested in the previous committee report. It was determined that a more effective approach would be to conduct the follow-up survey after the close of this current academic year when most organizations will have completed deliberations on distance-oriented standards. The committee proposes to develop a more comprehensive questionnaire which should be available for review at the summer 1998 CAA meeting. Results would be reported to the Board at the winter 1999 meeting or as available. It is anticipated that dissertation research, by Tom Hagovsky-Purdue University, may be completed on distance education in CAA/UAA member institutions. Should data become available, it will be summarized for the Board.
Committee tasks include:
-Survey of distance education issues (completed and reported, 7/97).
-Preparation of a white paper on CAA issues/implications of distance education with updated survey data from key accrediting organizations (in-process).
-Continue inquiries as directed by the CAA Board (on-going).
-Dialogue with CAA Standards Committee on implications (7/97, 2/98).
-Advise the CAA Board on distance education issues (Board reports 7/97, 2/98).
-Develop a committee web page (completed 2/98).
-Add links on the committee web page to key accrediting organizations (available 2/98).
Committee suggestion to the Board:
-Explore opportunity for the CAA Executive Director to coordinate with or represent the CAA at meetings of the Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors.
Previous committee reports available at: http://cid.unomaha.edu/~unoai/caa.html
Contact: Brent Bowen, 402-554-3424. bowen@unomaha.edu