Click here to see a list of the 2009-10 scheduled Quality Checkup Visits.

The Quality Checkup requires two or more evaluators and occupies two or more days on campus. The size of the team and the duration of the visit depend on the institution’s size, complexity, and the number and seriousness of the issues the team is charged to examine. If issues to be covered are complicated, or the institution is complex, a larger team and longer visit may be warranted.

The leader or team member of an organization’s last System Appraisal may serve as an evaluator. The AQIP Reviewers and Consultant-Evaluators with experience in the PEAQ process prepare for the visit by reviewing relevant organizational and AQIP file materials, particularly the organization’s last Systems Appraisal Feedback Report and the Commission’s internal Organizational Profile, which summarizes information reported by the institution in its Annual Institutional Data Update. At least four weeks prior to the visit, the institution provides a report (as specified below) to AQIP, which is shared with the evaluator(s). Visits normally occur in the three year period prior to an organization’s scheduled Reaffirmation of Accreditation, but additional site visits (with or without this component) may be requested by an organization at any time.

A Quality Checkup guide for teams and institutions is available by clicking the Downloads link on the left.

Goals of the AQIP Quality Checkup Site Visit:

• affirming the accuracy of the organization’s online Systems Portfolio and verifying information included in the portfolio;
• reviewing with organizational leaders Action Projects and strategies identified to capitalize on the strengths and opportunities for improvement;
• assuring continuing organizational quality improvement commitment;
• confirming the institution’s compliance with accreditation expectations and counsel the institution concerning any issues that require immediate attention; and
• reviewing and updating the relationship between the institution and the Commission

Components of the AQIP Quality Checkup Site Visit:

1. Systems Portfolio Clarification and Verification

   The Quality Checkup Site Visit will affirm the accuracy of the organization’s online Systems Portfolio and verify information included in the Portfolio that the last Systems Appraisal has identified as needing clarification or verification. To do so, the evaluator will identify, before the visit, 8 – 12 items or issues from the Systems Portfolio to verify or clarify, and identify a potential strategy (whom to interview, what records to inspect, etc.) that would serve to resolve these questions. During the visit, the evaluator will conduct spot checks following this agenda, and will summarize findings using a form provided by AQIP, a copy of which will be presented to and discussed with the organization before the conclusion of the AQIP Quality Checkup Site Visit. A major goal of this component of the visit is to provide the organization with information that will enable it to modify its Systems Portfolio to be a more effective, more credible, better-understood presentation of the organization’s processes and performance results.

2. Systems Appraisal Follow Up

   This component involves a formal review, with organizational leaders, of the Strategic Issues Analysis received by the organization as part of its last Systems Appraisal. Its goal is to make certain that the organization has understood all issues raised by the Strategic Issues Analysis, and to understand and confirm the strategy adopted by the organization in order to capitalize on the advice provided it via the Systems Appraisal.

   The report created by this segment of the Quality Checkup Site Visit will be a supplement to the Strategic Issues Analysis, and should serve to both inform and reassure the organization and AQIP that they will both enter the Reaffirmation of Accreditation review with a full understanding of the organization’s strategy for advancing its quality improvement initiative.

3. Organizational Quality Commitment

   The evaluator(s) conducting the Quality Checkup Site Visit will have a variety of occasions to interact with personnel from the organization and should use these opportunities to assess the strength and direction of the organization’s commitment to systematic quality improvement, and to answer the organization’s questions about the processes and expectations of AQIP and the Higher Learning Commission. There should be at least one public meeting scheduled to which organizational administrators, faculty, staff, students, and other constituencies are invited, at which the AQIP Evaluators make a short explanatory presentation about the most recent and next steps in the organization’s involvement in AQIP and answer questions from those present. (Separate sessions can be scheduled for specific groups, or groups can be mixed in larger sessions.)

   The result of this segment of the Quality Checkup Site Visit is a commentary, by the evaluators, on the strength and momentum of the organization’s commitment to AQIP, and suggestions on how the organization might act to improve that commitment.

4. Accreditation Issues Follow Up

   This component involves a formal review, with organizational leaders, of the Accreditation Issues Analysis received by the organization as part of its last Systems Appraisal. Its goal is to make certain that the organization has understood all issues raised by the Analysis and has either rectified them or is taking affirmative action to correct problems prior to its next scheduled Reaffirmation of Accreditation.

   Prior to the AQIP Quality Checkup Site Visit, the organization can provide written documentation of its actions if it believes that it has addressed and solved issues raised by the Accreditation Issues Analysis. This documentation will be shared with the evaluator(s), and, if persuasive, may eliminate items from the agenda that requires on-site review and discussion.

   If there still exist areas of concern relating to accreditation requirements, these will be spelled out in detail for the institution’s leadership, and summarized in the report. These may either be evidentiary gaps (which can be filled by submitting appropriate evidence to the Commission) or potential areas of non-compliance, where action must be taken promptly in order to assure a successful Reaffirmation of Accreditation review. The report created by this segment of the Quality Checkup Site Visit will supplement the last Systems Appraisal’s Accreditation Issues Analysis, and should serve to both inform and reassure the organization and AQIP that they will both begin the Reaffirmation of Accreditation review with a full understanding of any remaining issues and required evidence.

5. Commission Relationship Review

   The SAS describes an institution’s relationship with the Commission. If the institution asks the team to consider recommending a change in the SAS Stipulations section (generally limiting the particular degree programs an institution can offer), the institution’s freedom to open new off-campus program sites, and the institution’s freedom to offer new distance education degree programs, the team will evaluate the institution’s capacity to support the desired changes and make a recommendation in accord with its evaluation.

6. Federal Compliance Review

   The Commission expects its affiliated institutions to comply if required with the Title IV requirements of the Higher Education Reauthorization Act as amended in 1998. Therefore, institutions will provide for review and consideration to Quality Checkup Site Visit evaluators the most recent default rates (and any default reduction plans approved by the Department of Education) and any other documents concerning the institution’s program responsibilities under Title IV of the Act, including any results of financial or compliance audits and program reviews.

©2009 Academic Quality Improvement Program, The Higher Learning Commission.