Survey Comparison’s May Aid Accreditation at Blackburn in 2010
   By Tanya Jackson

The form “accreditation” is unfamiliar to many college students, but is vitally important to the credibility of a college.

If students don’t care about the meaning of accreditation, they should.

If a college or university is not accredited, its students will probably not be able to participate in either Federal or State financial assistance programs.

Fortunately, for Blackburn there is good news regarding accreditation. According to Dr. Jackie Singh, Blackburn’s director of institutional research, a comparison of three surveys, created during the summer of 2005 by the Blackburn College Office of Institutional Research, may help Blackburn College continue as an accredited college.

This is good news because “this determines that Blackburn college is meeting its standards. When the Higher Learning Commission looks at this survey comparison, we will be able to provide evidence,” said Singh.

This new survey comparison helps Blackburn meet these criteria. The three surveys compared are: The Blackburn College Alumni Survey, The National Survey of Student Engagement, and The Blackburn College State of the Campus Survey.

The Alumni Survey a survey instrument sent to graduates, is designed to assist Blackburn in identifying how the institution best served its alumni. It also gives the reader the opportunity to tell the institution what programs, benefits and services contributed to their success, and how best it meets their needs.

“It allows Blackburn to take a look at what they have done right and what needs to be improved-it is quite valuable, informative, and interesting,” said research assistant Will Hogsett.

The National Survey of Student Engagement is administered to current Blackburn students. This is a national survey administered by the Higher Learning Commission.

The Higher Learning Commission specializes in accrediting colleges. This association helps colleges reach their educational objectives by testing student engagement and institutional effectiveness.

Now we come to the most important of the surveys, the State of the Campus Survey. This survey helps the college find ways to improve the campus life.

The North Central Association also accredits colleges in this region, and now requires athat all colleges regularly assess how well they are serving their students.

Student researcher, Travis Neel, 2005 graduate, designed the Survey comparison using Dr. Sam Meredith’s State of the Campus Survey s the cornerstone for comparisons.

“Dr. Meredith taught me quite a bit about this survey, in his research methods class,” said Neel.

The Blackburn College Community should know that this is an accomplishment for Blackburn College, and thanks to the office of institutional research, the survey comparison has a successful accreditation plan that is authentic to this institution.

“This proves Blackburn College’s accountability,” said research assistant Stephanie Burton.

By comparing and mapping all three surveys, Blackburn college can demonstrate they are assessing their impact on student learning.

This enables the college to use results to improve policies, programs and procedures.

“I am very proud o four ability to complete the survey comparisons.: said research assistant, Nikki Thomas.

“What makes this valuable to Blackburn College is that when the Higher Learning Commission accredits us in 2010, we can prove our accountability,” adds Singh.

“This will serve to notify parents and future students that a program has met its standard; faculty, deans and administrators of a program’s strengths and weaknesses and of ways to improve a program; employers that graduates are prepared for professional practice; taxpayers that their funds are spent well; and students will be eligible to seek admission to colleges, and apply for federal grants or scholarships.”