1. The Library’s Role in the
Accreditation Process
Eurasian Higher Education Leaders Forum:
Library Connect
Jim Agee
Library General Manager
Nazarbayev University Library

2. Accreditation is …
A. A review of a School program or a review of the
quality of all academic aspects of a University
1) Academic courses
2) Instruction facilities
3) Materials (which includes Library resources)
B. A review that is done by other scholars and
administrators
C. A review that uses standardized measures to
evaluate all programs and schools equally

3. Accreditation: What is it?
American Library
Association
American Chemical Society
New England Association of
Schools and Colleges

4. Accreditation: Why …?
• The ‘accredited’ university has academic
programs that meet standardized criteria
• Parents and students who seek a university or
program are assured of high-quality
• Students who graduate from the program or
university are well-prepared professionals
• Professions often require that newly hired
employees have ‘accredited’ degrees

5. American Library Association
(ALA)
“Accreditation is a voluntary,
nongovernmental, and
collegial process of self-
review and external
verification by peer
reviewers.”
ALA “Role of Accreditation”
Accreditation Standards

6. The Accreditation Process
ALA, UKEC, ACS, NEASC, and many other
Accreditation agencies each set their own
specific standards that must be met.
Usually, there are some common steps after the
application
Self-Study
How well the university thinks they meet the
requirements of the Accreditation agency.

7. An Example
A Self-Study may include something about the
Library, such as:
How many resources, in a variety of formats, are
available in the Library to support the academic
program or the university curriculum that is under
review?
Naturally, this general question may be made into
several shorter very specific points.

8. Accreditation: Library Resources
The American Chemical Society guidelines say,
“The vast peer-reviewed chemical
literature must be readily accessible to
both faculty and students. Historically such
access came through a good library
providing monographs, periodicals, and
facilities for database searches.”
- “Undergraduate Professional Education in Chemistry”
part 4.4, Chemical Information Resources

9. Library Resources!
ACS also provides a
“Recommended Journal List” of 88 journal titles.
This is a good example of specific library resources
that are necessary, and this shows the importance
of the Library in the Accreditation process.

10. Accreditation Process: Changes
After the “Self-Study” is evaluated and a report
with suggestions for changes are made by the
Accreditation agency, time is allowed for the
changes to be made.
Program accreditations typically take 6-12 months.
University accreditations may take 5-7 years.

11. Accreditation Process: Time …
Long timelines are good for the Library, because
they allow time for:
Budgets Requests
Contracts Negotiations
New Orders Payments
new materials to be available to library users

12. Library Resources: Not Just Books
In addition to Books, Journals, or Databases
Some accreditation requirements might be for:
 informative and clear web portal
 qualified faculty, and enough to serve
students
qualified library staff, and enough to serve
students
digital instructional technology
 physical facilities

13. Another Report
After changes have been made, or with
evidence that changes will be made … and that
the changes will be sustainable,
The reviewers will re-examine the implemented
and proposed changes to determine if they
meet the standards that are required.

14. Site Visit
Usually after the reports are submitted and
approved, an Accreditation Team makes a visit
to the university to see the physical site.
The Team will talk with Administrators, Faculty,
Students, and they will certainly visit the Library.
In the Library they will look at specific books,
databases, and journals. They will see facilities
and talk with Library managers and Librarians.

15. The Library’s Role
The Library is not the central focus of an
Accreditation Team.
But the program or university which seeks
accreditation will depend on the Library to show
the breadth and depth of the resources that are
available for scholarship and research.

16. Accreditation is Dynamic
The path to accreditation is long. But after
accreditation is given, standards must be
maintained. There will be future reviews to
continue to monitor and be assured of the
quality required to maintain “Accredited” status.

17. Accreditation & the Library
Just as the Library has something to offer
anyone on campus,
So the Library has resources to support any
program or university Accreditation.
The Library must be involved so that the
Accreditation application will be successful.

18. Questions?
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today!