Should Branch Campuses Consider Separate Accreditation?
Over the past year, I’ve spoken with several people whose institutions are considering whether to pursue separate regional accreditation for their branch campuses. The University of South Florida did that, just a few years ago, but now I wonder if there might be broader interest in the idea. In the past, I’ve made a strong distinction between multi-campus institutions, such as the University of North Carolina, where campuses have a relatively high level of autonomy, and institutions with a main campus and branches. Shared accreditation and curriculum oversight from the main campus are almost part of defining what it is to be a “branch.” (See my previous posts on branch characteristics; the blog is searchable.) Nevertheless, I can understand why separate accreditation for branches might be attractive. As branch campuses become more deeply engaged in their communities and mature as institutions in their own right, they need to provide those c...