ACCREDITING THE FIRST GERONTOLOGY DEGREE PROGRAMS: PROCEDURES REFINED AND LESSONS LEARNED

摘要

In 2016 a new organization, the Accreditation for Gerontology Education Council (AGEC), was formed to accredit gerontology degree programs. AGEC grew out of a taskforce established by the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) and uses the AGHE competencies adopted in 2014 as the standard for student learning. Funding provided by the Kott Charitable Trust made it possible to conduct accreditation reviews and site visits for an initial set of three institutions at the masters, baccalaureate, and associate degree levels. This presentation reports on the experiences of these initial accreditation reviews. Results indicate that the information published in the AGEC Handbook provided a useful guide for programs undertaking the accreditation process but that there were assorted details, such as course transfer arrangements, that had not been sufficiently anticipated or specified. Likewise, the site visit procedures initially outlined were sufficient for the most part but did require some modifications following the experiences of the actual visits. Reviewer/site visitor training has required the most adjustment, particularly regarding the assessment of student learning and the integration of the AGHE competencies into the programs’ curricula. Finally, the perspectives of the programs undergoing the accreditation process are presented. Evaluations were generally positive and provided useful feedback for improving the AGEC accreditation experience for those programs seeking accreditation in the future. The presentation concludes with AGEC’s current challenges and future plans for encouraging many gerontology degree programs to pursue accreditation.