Outline of Events Associated with a Self-Study Visit

The following is a list of events and actions associated with a comprehensive visit and the work of the Board of Commissioners (cf. "Guidelines for Institutions Receiving Accreditation Evaluation Committees," Section Three of the Handbook of Accreditation).

The school and the ATS Commission liaison set the date of visit approximately one or two years in advance. Some regional accrediting agencies will seek to establish dates earlier; in such cases, the school should confer with the ATS Commission liaison regarding visit dates prior to confirming with the regional agency.

The ATS Commission liaison suggests to the chief executive officer of the school a possible chair and potential visitors to ascertain conflicts of interest. Once the team is finalized, initial contact with the school will be made by the committee chair (six to nine months in advance).

In anticipation of the visit, the school clears all calendars, designates a visit coordinator/hospitality person for the visit, and, if necessary, identifies an on-campus contact person who will always be available for emerging needs during the four-day visit (six to nine months in advance).

The school makes hotel reservations for the committee members (separate rooms for each individual member). The school locates the chair in a suite or secures a separate meeting room within the hotel (three to six months in advance).

The self-study committee completes the draft, which the faculty, administrative officers, and other appropriate members of the school community review before the governing board (two to three months in advance).

The school distributes the approved self-study. See The Self-Study for Distribution for details on the number, content, and timing for delivery of the self-study set to the ATS Commission and evaluation committee chair and members. The ATS Commission liaison and committee chair review the self-study to confirm that it will support a site visit; occasionally, a school must revise its self-study or provide additional documentation.

The school identifies a room where the committee can meet on campus in a quiet, secure, central location with work space, an outside telephone connection, at least one computer with Internet access and a printer, beverages, and light snacks. This room is the location for all of the committee's supporting material, including the following:

• faculty c.v.
• governing board and its committee minutes
• faculty meeting and faculty committee minutes
• faculty, staff, and student handbooks (policy and procedure manuals)
• assessment material including evidence of student learning
• strategic planning materials
• three most recent audits and management letters
• current year budget with year-to-date figures and projected budgets for the next three years
• enrollment and placement trend information
• samples of school publications (catalog, recruiting, developing items, etc.)
• authorizations to operate issued by state/provincial agencies
• incorporation and bylaw documents

The school visit coordinator works toward a tentative agenda with the committee chair. The ATS Commission staff may help facilitate this process. In consultation with the chair, the visit coordinator arranges for the local transportation of the committee, distributes orienting material, and receives any requests by the committee for additional materials (thirty to forty-five days prior to visit date).

A typical onsite agenda (four days and three nights):

• Sunday afternoon: Committee arrives and meets at 4:00 p.m.
• Sunday early evening: School hosts committee for dinner, including the introduction of key school persons and committee members
• Early Monday: Committee meets (alone) with the chief executive officer
• Monday morning: Committee members spend time with persons responsible for the various areas: academic, student, development, financial, etc.
• Monday lunch: Possibly with students or alumni/ae
• Monday afternoon: Committee members meet with individuals noted above, faculty, and others, eventually meeting groups of recent graduates, field supervisors, support staff, representative adjunct faculty, etc.). The committee leaves campus by 4:30 p.m.
• Monday evening: The committee eats dinner and meets before, during, and after dinner (schedule gets re-adjusted)
• Tuesday morning: Continues with interviews and document reviews
• Tuesday lunch: Committee eats with governing board members without administrative officers (two to two-and-a-half hours)
• Tuesday afternoon: Additional interviews, usually finishing by 4:00 p.m.
• Tuesday evening: Committee deliberates before or after dinner to determine basic report contents and formulation of its recommendations
• Wednesday morning: Exit interview. In a standalone visit, the exit interview requires approximately thirty minutes. The Committee communicates to the chief executive officer and others of the school's choosing the actions it is recommending to the Board of Commissioners. These recommendations are confidential and not for publication. The protocol here is explicit: The chair reads the recommendations and is not to entertain questions. A joint visit may vary from the handling of the exit interview, and the two chairs clarify ahead of time what the school should anticipate.

Within approximately a week of the visit, the school receives a draft report of committee's findings and recommendations. The school responds with corrections of any factual errors.

The committee chair sends the corrected report including its recommendations to the ATS Commission for action by the Board of Commissioners, which meets in January and June.

The ATS Commission office provides a copy of the final committee report to the school, inviting the school to respond to the report and recommendations. They may, if it wishes, send a letter to the Commissioners challenging the committee's recommendations.

In unusual cases, the chief executive officer may request to make a personal appearance during the meeting of the Commissioners. If a school desires to exercise this option, it should notify the Secretary to the Board of Commissioners fourteen days in advance of the Board meeting.

The Commissioners read the report and recommendations of the evaluation committee and any communication from the school. Commission members of smaller work groups also read the school's self-study and present the evaluation committee's recommendations, with any revisions made by the work group, to the board meeting in plenary session. The Commissioners then act on the recommendations.

Approximately four weeks after the Board of Commissioners has met, the school's CEO receives a formal letter communicating the Board's action.

There are appeal procedures for a school that objects to a decision by the Board of Commissioners.

At the end of the semester in which the visit occurs, the school receives an invoice from the ATS Commission for the visit fee and travel costs. See the Evaluation Billing Policy for details.