Avoiding Accreditation Scaries
Over the past 10 years, we have had the pleasure of working with various institutions and organizations in the vast and heavily scrutinized world of higher education accreditation and compliance. During this time, we have encountered challenges and obstacles that could easily scare even the bravest of individuals into reconsidering their goals. But by overcoming what can sometimes seem like harrowing circumstances, we have learned that seeking accreditation does not have to conjure feelings of fear and dread.
We all remember watching scary movies and, during spikes of adrenaline, finding ourselves yelling warnings at the main characters—“Don’t make that obvious mistake/decision that will clearly lead to your untimely demise!” For many of the institutions that we work with, once the dust has settled and they are basking in the accomplishment of yet another grant of accreditation, they come back and share their reflections with us. I imagine most horror movie characters would feel much the same. Hindsight makes it easy to see that hiding in the closet with no plan for escape was probably a bad idea, or that there were better places for a solo midnight stroll than through the graveyard. But that’s just it, when you are in the middle of a daunting project (or monster chase) it can seem almost impossible to step back and take a moment to reassess the situation before it causes lifelong fear. So, for higher education institutions undergoing accreditation and movie fans alike, we thought a helpful blog focusing on the lessons learned from scary movies could provide some preemptive options for people looking to minimize their fear and embrace the adrenaline rush by avoiding common mistakes or misconceptions.
Never Say “I’ll Be Right Back”: If you remember watching Scream (the first one), Randy had a list of rules for surviving horror movies. One of these rules was never say, “I’ll be right back” because as we all know, that character will never be right back and, in fact, very likely will not be back at all. Their overconfidence tricks them into thinking they can leave the relative safety of the group and return to find everyone and everything just as they left it. This almost never works out. The same can be said of institutions. No one sets out to fail or have their plans derailed, but it happens all the time. While confidence can help keep everyone focused and optimistic, it can also cause us to not fully consider the reality of the situation. For institutions seeking accreditation, spend time thinking about a Plan B in case the aggressive and ambitious Plan A does not work out as expected. This way you avoid losing momentum and can quickly refocus on achieving the goal.
The Call is Coming from Inside the House: In a scary movie, the main character might make it home where they feel safest, only to realize there was danger at home the entire time. As much as we hate an unfinished basement—I’m sorry, they’re never not creepy—you must know what’s going on in your own home. For institutions, it can be hard to look back at the way things used to be when everyone is primarily focused on future initiatives. Most institutions avoid looking back because they can easily see all the ways they were noncompliant instead of looking back to describe all the ways they have improved. While the standard advice would be to avoid basements in general, institutions should consider rummaging through their past practices to highlight areas where processes were updated and resulted in success.
Never Split Up: One of the worst decisions in a scary movie is the decision to split up whether it be a couple or a group. This almost guarantees that viewers will follow these characters’ storylines as they make poor decisions and get picked off by the villain one by one. Why make yourself more vulnerable? While we yell at these characters during the movie, this is exactly the approach that most institutions take when preparing for accreditation. They all split up leaving one individual to work on the daunting and comprehensive project. In the end, this approach never works, just like in the movies. For institutions to be successful, they must work (and stay) together to clearly communicate the policies and processes that effectively support students throughout their learning journey.
Just Keep Driving: How many times have you seen characters in scary movies pull over at an old, creepy gas station or get out of the car on a deserted road only to discover that the urban legends are all true? If they had just kept driving, they would have avoided the disaster. Preparing for a successful accreditation cycle is not unlike this scenario. Often institutions begin preparing for an upcoming accreditation review with gusto only to find three months into the tedious process that it is not very exciting. So, team members allow themselves to get distracted resulting in a mad dash at the end. And as any evaluator (or roadside lingering murderer) will tell you, we can absolutely tell when this happens. Once an institution starts preparing for accreditation, the best thing they can do is keep moving forward. Avoid distractions, especially the kind that lead you down a creepy path to an old, abandoned house—spoiler alert, it doesn’t end well.
Keep a Cellphone Handy: Now that cellphones have become so ubiquitous, it is unfathomable when you watch a scary movie, and no one has a cellphone right when they need it most. We laugh about this, but in reality, institutions treat their approach to accreditation the same way—like we do not have any means of communication. Most institutions get knee deep in accreditation reports, analyzing data, and making crucial strategic decisions only to look up and realize no one else has been involved. In their eagerness, the one person tasked with managing the accreditation project decides to push through and draft all the documents until they come to the end and realize that other important perspectives, inputs, or corrections were not incorporated. Just like in every scary movie, a simple phone call can be a lifeline and reaching out to others can help you avoid a tragic end.
It Never Dies the First Time: We must always remember that in any good scary movie, the first seemingly fatal blow is never the end. [Insert your favorite villain] always comes back at least one more time. While accreditation is high stakes for any institution, keep in mind that you have multiple chances to get it right. This does not mean that these opportunities come without unintended or undesired consequences, but institutions should not take the first response as the final decision (never forget the double-tap rule from Zombieland). There is (almost) always room to improve and try again. At its core, accreditation is about continuous quality improvement—not perfection.
Stay Away from the Clown: If you get nothing else from this blog, please hear this: Clowns are always scary and should be avoided at all times. There is no parallel to accreditation for this rule, just a necessary PSA from friendly consultants who care about your wellbeing. This extends well beyond movies, too. Remember when there were literal clowns hiding in the woods and it made the actual news? Hard pass on this one.
We get it, accreditation can seem really scary, but at its core, the process should drive institutions to be better academically, operationally, and financially. Higher education fills a necessary and important role in society by overseeing the institutions tasked with educating the people who will inherit and continue building the future. Remember, accreditation is here to make you better, not to give you nightmares. Plan, persevere, and maybe throw in a horror movie marathon to remind yourself that, even when a case of the accreditation scaries sets in, there still aren’t any clowns around—things could always be worse.
Happy Halloween!
