Jesse Murrary
Senior Reporter
Bryan College is currently accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), most commonly referred to as the Commission on Colleges (COC). According to Accreditation Liaison Dr. Ken Froemke, COC is the most prestigious and demanding of the six regional accreditors.
“The accreditation process for schools in the south, as compared to the west coast or the north east, tends to be more difficult,” said Froemke.
Bryan College has been accredited with COC since 1969. According to Froemke, the college’s first accreditation check was five years later in 1974. Checks have come since then every 10 years that end with four (i.e. 1984, 1994 and most recently 2004). Froemke worked as Liaison during the 2004 check-up.
COC has a handbook laying out the principles of accreditation. It contains 88 regulations that schools must follow in order to maintain accreditation. According to Froemke, these principles address issues such as faculty qualifications to making sure an institution has an adequate budget— and everything in between.
Bryan’s next check-up will take place in March of 2014. According to Froemke, there is a three-stage process that must take place before the school can be re-approved for accreditation. In the first stage, or Compliance Certification, the school will draft narratives addressing how it feels it is meeting the qualification standards. During the second stage, or Off-site Reading, these narratives will be sent to a group of COC readers in Atlanta, Ga., to be examined, critiqued and then sent back. The final stage, or On-site Team, will take place in 2014 when COC workers will come to campus for three days to look at everything. It is then that they will approve or deny the college’s reaccreditation.
Students might ask: how does Bryan’s accreditation affect me? According to Froemke, it is extremely important. Accreditation means that a Bryan College degree is recognized by graduate schools and employers all over the nation.
“Graduate schools and employers all want to know that your diploma is from an accredited institution,” said Froemke.
Bryan is currently in phase one of the 2014 accreditation process. Froemke, who is currently overseeing the process, is a 1968 Bryan graduate and has worked with the college for 35 years, formerly as head of the education department and also as former dean of instruction.