AdvancEd Systems Accreditation is open to UMSI schools that are members of NAUMS, Inc., an AdvancED accredited educational corporation:
Corporate officials submitted the application for Systems Accreditation in August 2019 (see steps below):
- The application process includes a Readiness Visit, to be scheduled to NAUMS’ Corporate Headquarters prior to December 31, 2019,
- The goal of the Readiness Visit is to determine the worthiness of the NAUMS corporation to pursue Systems Accreditation for its member schools,
- It is expected that NAUMS will be approved to proceed with Systems Accreditation by December 31, 2019,
- Upon approval, NAUMS, Inc. will be a “candidate” for Corporate Systems Accreditation, and all UMSI schools that are certified and/or accredited will also be considered “candidates” for the Systems process,
- During the calendar year 2020, the NAUMS staff and board will work toward approval of Corporate Systems Accreditation. This preparation period will be followed by an “engagement review” visit to several UMSI schools, followed by a corporate visit to NAUMS, Inc. headquarters. Once data is collected from schools, as well as the corporation, findings will go to the AdvancEd Global Commission for approval (it is projected that approval will be granted during 2020 or early 2021),
- Once NAUMS, Inc. is approved for AdvancED Corporate Systems Accreditation, all candidate schools (certified by NAUMS. Inc.) and schools already accredited by AdvancED will become part of this system, maintaining their accreditation with AdvancEd through NAUMS certification visits, scheduled every five years.
NAUMS, Inc. Future Certification Costs: Once Systems Accreditation is approved, UMSI schools scheduled for certification or recertification visits will pay 50% of the costs of each visit (travel, lodging, meals) scheduled every five years. This cost is not applicable to the current school year 2019-2020.
However, please keep in mind that schools will no longer be paying the costs of AdvancEd visits to their campuses. Certification visits are taking the place of the AdvancEd visits (except when schools are selected at random for an AdvancED visit). When this happens, NAUMS will pay the costs of the AdvancED visits.
Note: During SY 2019-2020, schools that apply for initial certification pay a one-time application fee of $300. The application fee will go up to $600 after Systems Accreditation is approved by AdvancED.
AdvancED Costs: All UMSI schools that are part of the NAUMS, Inc. System will be required to be AIN members (ADvancED International Members) at an annual cost of $1200 (invoiced in April). Benefits include access to numerous resources, including school data, online courses, and more. A major benefit of the Systems process is the maintenance of AdvancED accreditation via membership in NAUMS and certification visits scheduled every five years. As stated above, UMSI schools will not have regularly scheduled AdvancED visits.
Once the system is approved, UMSI schools will have the option to request optional onsite AdvancED visits, but these schools will pay all expenses of those visits.
The information in this newsletter regarding AdvancED Systems Accreditation will be reinforced two ways: (1) A letter sent to all school administrators, and (2) A webinar, to include a Q&A for participants.
Certification and accreditation information was prepared for this newsletter by members of the NAUMS, Inc. Education Department: Barbara Freeman and Karen Cannon.