Achieve and Maintain Accreditation with the Kuali Student Suite

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security defines accreditation as the recognition from an accrediting agency that an institution maintains a certain level of educational standards. 

When we read between the lines, accreditation really boils down to an institution’s reputation. It is proof of an institution’s commitment to delivering exceptional curriculum for students. 

Accreditation organizations regularly review colleges and universities to ensure the institutions are maintaining high standards. Anyone who has worked in or with the Registrar’s Office during an accreditation review understands the level of work required to meet those standards. These accreditation standards are meant to be rigorous. They’re meant to push institutions to provide better experiences and outcomes for students. 

However, meeting accreditation standards does not necessarily mean your office needs to put in so much manual effort. 

What if you could deliver accreditation data faster? What if you could do it with less manual effort?

Those are real possibilities with the Kuali Student Suite, which consists of Curriculum Management, Catalog Management, Syllabus Management, and Kuali Build for Registrars and Admissions Officers, a forms and workflow solution. In this blog post, we’ll dig into how the Kuali Student Suite can help your institution save time and mitigate risk on the path to achieving and maintaining accreditation. 

Save Time: Streamline Accreditation Reviews

Preparing for an accreditation review can take up to two years of careful planning. One of the most difficult elements of accreditation is providing documentation and reporting to prove your institution accurately and appropriately identified learning outcomes, tracked learning progress, and continuously improves to meet needs. 

Oftentimes, collecting and organizing this data means dozens of meetings, hundreds of emails, and time-consuming manual work searching for data. This is where a software solution like the Kuali Student Suite comes in. When you use software to manage your curriculum, you spend less time tracking down data when accreditation or even catalog publication comes around. 

Let’s dig deeper into three ways you can save time using software. 

Access Current and Historical Data 

You’ve likely experienced digging through old data to come up with the information you need for accreditation. Using a software solution, you’ll have current and historical data right at your fingertips. 

As far back as the software solution was used, you can see what changes were made, why they were made, and the impacts those changes had on other curriculum. Additionally, that information will all be in a standard format so you won’t need to spend time shaping and formatting many different types of data to build a cohesive report. 

Quick Reporting

Without a software solution, you’re left to gather data for months and spend weeks developing reports. 

With a software solution, deliver reports much faster. You’ll already have the data in a standard format, and you can run reports on hidden requirements, curriculum impacted by changes made, and more. 

Efficient Processes and Approvals

Managing curriculum inherently requires many approvals. Without software, those workflow processes typically involve lengthy email threads. 

While preparing for accreditation, as well as managing the day-to-day curriculum approval processes, software can speed up approvals. For example, using a workflow solution, you can set up your workflow in advance, based on the various roles in your institution. Within the workflow, include attachments, leave notes, or send an proposal back to a previous step. 

As your processes become even more efficient, you will be able to elevate the impact of your office. When you spend less time tracking down approvals from curriculum chairs, you can spend more time making a difference for students and faculty.

In addition to saving time, a software solution can help you mitigate risk. 

Mitigate Risk

What kind of risks, you might wonder? Mitigate the risks of accreditation probation and an incorrect catalog. 

Avoid Probation

If your institution does not meet accreditation standards on time, it may be put on probation. This is a huge risk to your institution. Probation affects an institution’s reputation, which then impacts enrollment and recruiting.

Avoid probation altogether with a software solution that enables institutions to meet accreditation requirements faster and with fewer resources. 

Reduce Manual Duplicate Data Entry

Using a homegrown system that relies on manual data entry often means there is duplicate data entry. Manual data entry in any form presents the possibility of errors and when there is duplicate or triplicate manual data entry, errors are much more likely to occur. When those data entry errors are occurring in the catalog, which is legally binding, an institution can get into trouble. 

With a software solution that focuses on the curriculum first, then syncs that data to the catalog, your institution can mitigate the risk of incongruent curriculum and catalog data. 

When your institution can more effectively mitigate risk and save time, you can repurpose that time into more impactful work such as improving learning outcomes and student success. 

Get Started

Are you ready to learn more about saving time, mitigating risk, and improving student success? Take a look at the Kuali Student Suite, including Curriculum Management, Catalog Management, Syllabus Management, and Kuali Build for Registrars and Admissions Officers, a forms and workflow tool. Elevate the impact of your Registrar’s Office on student success. Learn more today.