Peer Review

Accreditation reviews are conducted by faculty and administrators from member institutions — people who do the same work at their own colleges and universities.

What is Peer Review

Peer review is the foundation of accreditation. Determining whether an institution meets the standards requires professional judgment, and that judgment comes from people who understand the work because they do it themselves.

An institution first documents how it meets each standard. A committee of evaluators from other member institutions reviews that documentation, and in most cases visits the campus to test what they read against what they find. The committee’s report reflects the collective judgment of its members — not the view of any one evaluator — and the Board of Trustees acts on it.

Evaluators are volunteers. They serve while holding full-time positions at their own institutions, and they are trained by The Commission before serving.

Who Serves

Evaluators are drawn from across the membership and across institutional roles. The Commission builds committees so that institutions are reviewed, as far as practically possible, by peers from similar institutions.

Organization and governance — presidents, board members, executive vice presidents
Academic administration — chief academic officers, deans, academic leadership
Faculty — including department chairs and program directors
Finance — chief financial officers and financial administration
Institutional effectiveness and institutional research
Library and learning resources
Student services

What is Expected of Evaluators

Serving as an evaluator carries real obligations. Three matter most, and prospective evaluators should understand them before being nominated.

ELIGIBILITY

Evaluators must be serving in an institutional role at a member institution at the time of the review. Retired and emeriti evaluators may serve for up to three years afterward with their institution’s approval. Individuals no longer affiliated with a member institution are not eligible, and this includes higher education consultants.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Evaluators maintain complete confidentiality about every aspect of a review — the institution’s materials, committee discussions, findings, and the rationale behind recommendations. Institutional materials remain the property of the institution and are returned or destroyed at the end of a review.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Evaluators may not serve where a conflict of interest exists, or where one might reasonably appear to. Conflicts include being a graduate of the institution, having been employed there or having applied for a position there in the last ten years, having consulted for it within ten years, or being employed in the state where the institution’s parent campus is located.

Full Policy: Ethical Obligations of Evaluators ⟶

How to become an evaluator

Because The Commission is an association of institutions, evaluators serve as representatives of their institutions. Nominations therefore come from the institution rather than from the individual — you cannot nominate yourself.

1.

Your institution’s accreditation liaison submits your name, title, email, and phone through the Institutional Portal.

2.

Your institution’s chief executive receives a link to approve or decline the nomination.

3.

If approved, you receive a link to the Evaluator and Volunteer Portal, where you enter your education, work experience, areas of expertise, and any conflicts of interest.

4.

Commission staff review the nomination against the needs of the Peer Evaluator Registry and your professional background.

5.

If you are added to the Registry, you receive a welcome email.

Being added to the Registry does not guarantee an invitation to serve. When building committees, The Commission considers how well an evaluator’s background fits the institution under review, the type of review, the topics it will examine, and the overall composition of the committee. Not every evaluator is invited every year.

Contact

Questions about becoming an evaluator:

Camille Johnson
Training and Research Specialist
cjohnson@commissioncu.org

For Evaluators Currently Serving

Forms, handbooks, report templates, and guidance for evaluators and committee chairs are in Evaluator Resources.

Evaluator Resources

Resources for evaluators and committee chairs serving on review committees. If you are considering becoming an evaluator, start with Peer Review.

Substantive Change Forms

Select the form matching the type of change under review. If you are unsure which applies, contact The Commission staff member working with your committee.

Evaluator Resources

The following tools are intended to assist current and future review committee members in the very important work of institutional review.