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University reaccreditation

MUSC's unique features critical to SACS

by Cindy Abole
Public Relations
This is the third in a series of articles that will provide an overview of the purpose, process and content of the current accreditation reaffirmation of MUSC by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
 
The series focuses on the need for MUSC to clearly define at the onset of this process that it has unique features rendering its reaccreditation somewhat different from that of the reaffirmations conducted each year by SACS of community colleges and comprehensive universities. 
 
Every member of the MUSC faculty and staff should be thoroughly aware of and familiar with how MUSC differs from other higher education institutions as well as this SACS initiative, which is so essential to the future of our institution.
 
Of the more than 700 colleges and universities accredited by SACS, only seven are free-standing academic health centers. Thus, many of the general core requirements and comprehensive standards demand somewhat different interpretations and responses from those most often experienced by the SACS reviewers. As the actual reaffirmation process starts, it is critical that both the institution being reaffirmed and the external teams conducting the reaffirmation process clearly recognize, understand, and concur in such differences if the reaffirmation is to be fully accurate and complete.
 
The overriding MUSC concern here is not the basic process of collecting or reporting of accurate data to SACS. Rather, it is in the strong possibility of erroneous perceptions of MUSC based upon data that have been forced into a prior categories or not supplied because such data are inappropriate or lack reliability and validity. The “one size fits all” assumptions of SACS data requests may inadvertently require MUSC (and other academic health centers) to withhold information, “craft” data to fit data categories, and leave data sets blank. Thus, the risk that focus and quality of the data submitted do not fully reflect the actual quality of the academic enterprises on the MUSC campus.
 
As an academic health center, MUSC clearly possesses many characteristics unique to a mission that differentiates it from that of the traditional comprehensive university. The translation of that mission into reality as an academic enterprise imposes a uniqueness alluded to by many but expressed by few.
 
Following are some of the attributes that impart an exclusivity to MUSC, both as an institution and as an academic health center. This is considered only a partial list and any additions from MUSC faculty and staff would be most welcome (e-mail to Tom Higerd, Ph.D., associate provost for institutional research and assessment, at higerdtb@musc.edu).
 
The Medical University of South Carolina is an upper division/graduate institution that:
  • stands independent as an academic health sciences center 
  • does not enroll first time, first year/freshman students
  • has admission criteria that vary both among and within its six colleges
  • utilizes lockstep curricula that do not generate credit hour data per se
  • does not offer general education course work
  • has class start dates that vary by program
  • provides no on-campus housing
  • does not provide career counseling or job placement services
  • has few student organizations [e.g., clubs, service groups]
  • sponsors no intercollegiate athletic programs
  • charges tuition and fees that vary by academic program and year within program
  • does not utilize student recruitment strategies, except to meet ethnic diversity goals
  • rarely uses SAT/ACT scores for admission decisions
  • exhibits low attrition and high graduation rates
  • enrolls students who make career decisions prior to matriculation
  • does not determine faculty workload by credit hour generation
  • interprets “teaching” in distinctive and atypical contexts
  • compensates faculty in unique ways
  • has only 28 percent of its annual graduates enrolled in its three undergraduate programs 
  • possesses an extraordinarily low student to faculty ratio
  • finds CIP codes do not reflect faculty workload responsibilities and departmental affiliation
  • does not collect cohort data
  • does not accept transfer students (For undergraduate programs, a student’s undergraduate work is evaluated for admission purposes but not entered on the MUSC transcript.)
  • utilizes non-teaching service faculty appointments
  • administers a major training hospital, clinics, and support services.
   

Friday, April 7, 2006
Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island papers at 849-1778, ext. 201.