The Fifth-Year Interim Review

Member institutions of The Commission on Colleges and Universities are required to submit a Fifth-Year Interim Report as a part of their Reaffirmation cycle. This report addresses selected standards of the Principles of Accreditation, as well as the impact of the institution’s most recent Quality Enhancement Plan. The institution’s Impact Report will be evaluated as acceptable or unacceptable, based upon the criteria of whether the institution has adequately

(a) provided the initial goals and intended outcomes of the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP),

(b) discussed changes made to the QEP and the reasons for those changes,

(c) described the QEP’s impact on student learning and/or student success, as appropriate to the design of the QEP, and (d) reflected upon what the institution has learned as a result of the QEP.

The Fifth-Year Interim Report is due approximately four and one-half years prior to the institution’s next reaffirmation of accreditation, allowing the institution to demonstrate ongoing compliance with the selected standards following the mid-point of its reaffirmation cycle. Institutions which have implemented off-campus instructional sites since their last reaffirmation may also be asked to host an Interim Off-Campus Instructional Sites Committee’s visit to a representative sample of those new sites as part of the Fifth-Year Interim Report process. If an institution is on Sanction at the time of its scheduled Fifth-Year Interim Review, the President of The Commission may act to defer the submission of the institution’s Fifth-Year Interim Report pending resolution of the institution’s probationary status. If the Fifth-Year Interim Review Committee determines that an institution is non-compliant with one or more standards, or has submitted an unacceptable QEP Impact Report, the institution will be required to submit a Referral Report for review by The Commission Board of Trustees.

Current report forms and important documents related to the Fifth-Year Interim Review process may be found on The Commission website as a link from the Institutional Resources page. Fifth-Year Interim Reports are reviewed by the Fifth-Year Interim Review Committee concurrently with the review of the Compliance Certification by The Commission Off-Site Reaffirmation Committees. Should the Fifth-Year Interim Review Committee determine that an institution had failed to demonstrate compliance with one or more of the selected standards, the Committee will refer the institution for review by The Commission Board of Trustees. That Referral Report and corresponding Report of the Fifth-Year Interim Review Committee will be reviewed by one of the Board’s Committees on Compliance and Reports at its meetings in June or December. Should the Board of Trustees determine that the institution had failed to demonstrate compliance with one or more of the referred standards, the Board will request a Monitoring Report and the institution’s two-year monitoring period will begin at that time. (See The Commission Policy Reaffirmation of Accreditation and Subsequent Reports.)

The Fifth-Year Interim Review Committee will also review the institution’s report on the impact of its most recent Quality Enhancement Plan. The Committee will determine whether the institution’s Impact Report is acceptable or unacceptable. Should the Committee determine that the Impact Report was unacceptable, the institution will be required to submit a Referral Report for Standard 14.5 (Policy compliance) for review by The Commission Board of Trustees. The Referral Report should include narrative in support of the institution’s case for compliance along with a revised Impact Report. If that revised Impact Report is deemed unacceptable by the Board, the institution would be required to submit a Monitoring Report.

To ensure that accredited institutions that are experiencing rapid growth in the number of additional locations maintain educational quality, an Interim Off-Campus Instructional Site (OCIS) Committee will conduct a site visit to verify continuing compliance with the Principles of Accreditation. Institutions are required to host an on-site visit if it has established five (5) or more approved off-campus instructional sites, which have not hosted a visit since its last reaffirmation. If non-compliance is identified with any standard, the Interim OCIS Committee would write a recommendation and the institution would have five months to submit a Response Report that would be reviewed by The Commission Board of Trustees. Should the Board determine that the institution has failed to demonstrate compliance with one or more of the standards identified by the Interim OCIS Committee, the institution would be required to submit a Monitoring Report, which would begin the institution’s two-year monitoring period. (See The Commission Policy Reaffirmation of Accreditation and Subsequent Reports.)