Middle States and Information Literacy
About Accreditation
Accreditation is a process by which an institution of higher learning voluntarily agrees to meet the standards set by an accrediting organization that is made up of peer institutions. Accreditation is a way for educational institutions to monitor each other’s performance, and in effect, amounts to a seal of approval. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is the organization that accredits Delaware County Community College. Each educational institution must go through a periodic review to establish that it continues to meet the accreditation standards. These reviews take place every ten years, with five-year follow-ups to measure progress toward goals.
Revised Middle States Assessment Criteria
In 2002, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education revised its standards document:
“Characteristics of Excellence in Higher Education: Eligibility Requirements and Standards for Accreditation” to explicitly include the need for information literacy instruction. Following are brief excerpts from that document.
“Fundamental Elements of Educational Offerings
Relative to this standard, an accredited institution…is characterized by the elements listed below.
- Collaboration between professional library staff and faculty in teaching and fostering information literacy skills relevant to the curriculum;
- Programs that promote student use of information and learning resources;”
“Optional Analysis and Evidence
- Evidence of information literacy incorporated in the curriculum with syllabi, or other material appropriate to the mode of teaching and learning, describing expectations for students’ demonstration of information literacy skills;
- Assessment of information literacy outcomes, including assessment of related learner abilities.”