JU receives SACS Reaffirmation of Accreditation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dec. 16, 2013

To the JU Community,

It is a great honor to announce that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools has reaffirmed its accreditation of Jacksonville University in good standing for the next 10 years.

This rigorous assessment process happens every decade, and it involved more than two years’ work by our administrative officers, staff, faculty, students and Trustees. It included comprehensive reaffirmation research and reporting, off-site reviews, on-site visits and a final review and acceptance by the Commission on Colleges of SACS.

At its most basic level, the decision means we maintain our accreditation by the Southeast’s most esteemed and important quality-assurance body to award bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.

But deeper, it means we have passed a most demanding test: we’ve once again proven the worth of our educational mission, integrity of our academic programs, strength of our faculty, value of our learning resources, depth of our student support, health of our finances, quality of our facilities and potency of our learning outcomes.

I’d like to express my deep appreciation to all those involved in this process. So many have volunteered a great deal of their time to ensure we as an institution can continue to provide the finest learning experience for our students, with the most robust plan for continual improvement.

In particular, I’d like to thank Dr. Bill Crosby, JU Chief Academic Officer; Dr. Pam Crawford, Director of the Reaffirmation Report; Dr. Karen Jackson, Chair of our Quality Enhancement Plan; Dr. Logan Cross, Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Research; David Jones, Director of the Library; and Dr. Lois Becker, former Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Many, many others were involved, at all levels, and we thank you for your outstanding efforts.

In particular, three JU students, all of whom graduated in May 2013, proved invaluable to the process, particularly in the compilation of the Reaffirmation Report: Eric Smith, Computing Sciences; Ryan Crosswait, Management; and Kyle Smallwood, Computing Sciences. Their disciplined and conscientious work is a testament to the fact that this campus brims with highly talented, dedicated students who show strong leadership and creativity.

Once again, thank you all for the considerable amount of time, patience and effort it took to accomplish our goal. We now move forward, knowing our future plans for growth in programs and quality of resources are firmly backed with the knowledge that our mission, values and practices have received the highest validation in our region.

Sincerely,