After more than a year of planning, research and work, Flagler College had its accreditation reaffirmed with no recommendations for improvement by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSCOC) at their 2019 Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas this week.
“I cannot stress how important this accreditation process was for our institution, or how impressed I am with everyone at Flagler who helped make this possible,” said Flagler President Joseph G. Joyner. “Accreditation is the way that the federal government ensures higher education compliance with federal laws and mandates. Furthermore, accreditation determines our eligibility to receive federal and state funds, and our ability to transfer credits with other schools.”
SACSCOC is the regional body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in 11 Southern states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, as well as Latin America. The mission of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges is to assure the educational quality and improve the effectiveness of its member institutions.
The SACSCOC Board of Trustees conducts reviews of institutions by looking at compliance certification through submitted reports, as well as off-site and on-site reviews. In addition, colleges must submit a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) that focuses on improving specific student learning outcomes and/or student successes. Flagler’s QEP is called FlagSHIP, for Flagler Sophomore High Impact Practice, and it focuses on developing an inclusive academic community and building confidence in students’ abilities to participate in a diverse democracy.
Through the program, students will be able to travel abroad, study away (within the U.S.), collaborate with community partners, participate in research or take an immersive course on campus.
Flagler submitted in September 2018 its Compliance Certification, an extensive self‐study of all aspects of college life, and successfully completed the on-site review by a committee from SACSCOC in March of this year.
The reaccreditation effort was led by Dr. Jessica Stowell, Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness, Dr. Alan Woolfolk, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Mr. David Carson, Vice President for Business Services, Dr. Daniel Stewart, former Vice President of Student Services, Ms. Deborah Thompson, Vice President of Enrollment Services, Dr. Art Vanden Houten, Dean of Academic Life, Dr. Bill Abare, President Emeritus, and Ms. Laura Stevenson‐Dumas, Assistant to the President.
Joyner said everyone on campus helped in some way whether it was by participating in assessment, preparing needed reports and documentation or helping to ensure our ongoing compliance with the 73 standards required in the SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation.
About Flagler College
Flagler College is a small private, independent college located in St. Augustine, Fla. The college offers 34 majors, 41 minors, and a master’s degree in Education of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing. Flagler College has an enrollment of about 2,500 students, as well as an offsite campus in Tallahassee, Fla. U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review regularly feature Flagler as a college that offers quality education at a relatively low cost. A Flagler education is less than half the cost of similar private colleges, and competitive with many state universities. A relatively young institution (founded in 1968), Flagler College is also noted for its historic beauty. The centerpiece of the campus is the former Hotel Ponce de Leon, a National Historic Landmark opened in 1888 by railroad pioneer and Standard Oil co-founder Henry M. Flagler. For more on Flagler College, visit www.flagler.edu.
