New NACEP Standards Released

After a two year process which included valuable member input at multiple stages, Accreditation Committee recommendations, and board deliberation over many months, the NACEP Board of Directors adopted a final version of Standards 2011 on December 15, 2009. Standards 2011 are designed to clarify the language, intent and evidence of the original standards.

The assurance of quality for university and college classes offered by concurrent enrollment partnerships is a key concern of NACEP leaders and members. To this end, the first set of standards adopted in 2002 provided measurable criteria of CEP elements in five categories that are markers of excellent programs: curriculum, faculty, students, assessment, and program evaluation.

To ensure that concurrent enrollment continues to offer excellence in changing times, the Accreditation Committee under the leadership of Jan Erickson, representing the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and the Board of Directors accepted the challenge of revising the original standards. To initiate the revision process, a public Wiki website was created in early 2008 to solicit input on the standards. Suggestions received on the website were reviewed and discussed by the Accreditation Committee, which presented a draft of the standards to the Board. The Board refined the standards and the required evidence, and presented a draft to the membership during a business meeting held October 26, 2009 during the annual NACEP conference in Memphis. The Board reviewed comments received by members on the October draft, before adopting the final version in December.

Concurrent enrollment partnerships throughout the nation are encouraged to follow the practices described in Standards 2011. As the basis for accreditation, Standards 2011 will go into effect for programs applying for accreditation in 2011. Programs applying for accreditation during the 2010-11 review cycle will be reviewed based on the existing standards adopted in 2002.

From the beginning, NACEP has endeavored to support and promote quality concurrent programs. The consistent, and often bold, application of NACEP standards of excellence has helped align curricula, student support, standards, and assessments to higher education requirements.