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Questions on SACS Accreditation

• 1. I heard that the Sarasota Manatee Campus is going to be "separately accredited" from USF - Tampa. Is this true?
  Yes, USF Sarasota-Manatee is moving in the direction of separate academic accreditation with the Commission of Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). We sobmitted our application in 2009 to SACS and anticipate being separately accredited by 2011. We are accredited currently through the USF Tampa campus and will continue to be accredited throughout the process.



• 2. What is accreditation? Why is separate accreditation a good thing?
  Accreditation is a process that gives public recognition to institutions that meet certain standards. This achievement recognizes the maturity of USF Sarasota-Manatee (USFSM) and the quality of our faculty and programs. When we are accredited under our own auspices, officials can work directly with faculty members and others to create the types of programs that will allow our campus to flourish and broaden access in accordance with our mission, goals, and values. Accreditation by SACS signifies that 1) USFSM has a Mission appropriate to higher education; 2) USFSM has Resources, Programs, and Services sufficient to accomplish and sustain that mission; 3) USFSM maintains clearly specified Educational Objectives and Outcomes that are consistent with its mission and appropriate to the degrees it offers and indicate the level of achievement of its stated objectives and steps taken to improve on a regular basis. Becoming separately accredited will mean that USF Sarasota-Manatee will be able to provide programming to fit the needs of our community. Our School of Hotel and Restaurant Management is an example of a program that fits a local need of providing hospitality and tourism professionals to the workforce. When separately accredited, we will be able to provide more academic programs that fill local needs. Separate accreditation also means that we will be able to hire and tenure faculty through our own institution and according to our own standards. Separate accreditation provides the best tools for USF Sarasota-Manatee and you, as a student, to succeed, while remaining a part of the USF System and family. You will always have the recognition of being a USF student and alumnus.



• 3. Why does this separate accreditation have to happen?
  In 2001, the Florida Legislature mandated in Florida Statute 1004.34 that USF St Petersburg (USFSP) and USFSM become separately accredited institutions. Currently, we are accredited under the umbrella of the University of South Florida in Tampa. USFSP became separately accredited in 2004, and we will hopefully become separately accredited by 2011.



• 4. Will currently enrolled students at USFSM have an option to select from a University of South Florida degree or a USFSM diploma?
  Students completing degrees at the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus beginning December 2009 or later will receive a University of South Florida diploma. Sarasota-Manatee campus will also appear on the diploma to indicate the location where students completed their program of study. When USFSM achieves separate accreditation, USFSM students will receive a University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee diploma.



• 5. What about taking classes at other campuses? Will the process change? Will credit still be given toward undergrad requirements?
  Some processes are under revision, but credit hour transfer processes were in revision prior to our move to separate accreditation. They will be designed to assure that the student is not penalized. After we are separately accredited, we may wish to make some degree changes, but we cannot make those changes while we are going through the accreditation process.



• 6. How long will the accreditation process take?
  We anticipate being separately accredited by 2011, but it may take longer depending on how quickly SACS reviews our application.



• 7. Do you expect to see the offerings at USF Sarasota-Manatee expand? What things are being considered?
  Yes, over the next several years, we do anticipate that we will have expanded degree options. This will be developed systematically and will meet the needs of our region and our students. We have considered several different degrees, but none have been officially decided. Just a few of the ones that we are considering are: Aging Studies or Gerontology, Banking, Landscape Architecture, Building Management, Film Studies, and a MS in Hospitality Management. Other graduate degrees will be planned over time.



• 8. What are the administration's goals and measures of performance that would help us understand what the administration wishes to accomplish during this transition and whether or not it has met its goals?
  We have seven (7) goals for our campus. They are as follows:
  
  1. Learner-Centered Environment- Be a diverse, collaborative, and intellectually challenging university with high quality academic programs and support services for students, faculty, staff, and community.
  2. Technology - Provide and encourage strategic use of electronic learning technology.
  3. Program Growth - Promote expansion of distinctive upper-division baccalaureate, master's, and research initiatives that serve local and global needs.
  4. Professional and Continuing Education - Provide advanced professional and continuing education that serves community needs.
  5. Financial stability - Grow and diversify the resource base.
  6. Assessment -Expand the system of self-study and continuous improvement.
  7. Accreditation - Obtain separate accreditation from the Commission of Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.



• 9. How will we be kept informed of relevant information in the future?
  Updated accreditation information will be provided at the following websites:
  http://www.sarasota.usf.edu/Alpha/ir/Assessment/Assessment_Home.htm
  sarasota.usf.edu



• 10. I am concerned that once this campus separates, the standards for teaching will go down. That we will no longer get research caliber professors to come here to teach. What do you plan to do to maintain access to this level of teaching staff?
  The standards for teaching at USF Sarasota-Manatee will never go down. Our new tenure and promotion guidelines have already been written and they are more strenuous than those for the Tampa Campus. We will always have the highest standards for teaching. Faculty who are not successful teachers will not be able to achieve tenure and promotion at USF Sarasota-Manatee.



• 11. What about access to research laboratories?
  Research laboratories will remain as accessible after accreditation as they are now.



• 12. Will this accreditation process hurt our funding?
  Separate accreditation will not affect our current funding.