The Application for Renewal Accreditation: Electronic Submissions

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The Application for Renewal Accreditation
Electronic Submissions
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• The Accreditation Process
• The accreditation process is the cornerstone of
  ACCSCTs ability to continually ensure the high
  quality of education in our accredited member
  institutions.
• The accreditation process provides an
  opportunity for an institution to conduct a
  comprehensive review of all academic and
  ancillary activities and resources that support
  an institutions mission and educational
  objectives
• By applying for and receiving accreditation, an
  institution accepts the obligation to demonstrate
  continuous compliance with the Standards of
  Accreditation
• While ACCSCT employs its own fact-finding
  methods to determine an institutions compliance
  with accrediting standards, the burden rests with
  the institution to establish that it is meeting
  ACCSCTs standards

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The Accreditation Process
School Attends Accreditation Workshop
Exit Interview
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For schools attending the IE Seminar to seek
Renewal of Accreditation
Attend Institutional Enhancement Seminar May
21-22, 2009 Submit two electronic copies of the
Application for Renewal Accreditation, with all
21 attachments July 14, 2009 Submit four
electronic copies of revised Application for
Renewal Accreditation, four electronic copies of
the Self-Evaluation Report, and on-site
evaluation fee November 17, 2009
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• Preparing Electronic Materials for Commission
  Consideration
• The Application for Renewal Accreditation

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Electronic Submissions

• This session is designed to assist institutions
  seeking renewal of accreditation from ACCSCT to
  format and organize the electronic Application
  for Renewal of Accreditation for Commission
  consideration.
• The following topics will be covered in this
  session
• Electronic Submission Format Requirements
• Electronic Application Submission Checklist
• Tutorial
• How to create Bookmarks
• How to insert Pages (exhibits)
• How to create Hyperlinks

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Electronic Submissions Format Requirements
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Electronic Submission Format Requirements

• All electronic documents must be submitted to
  ACCSCT as one Portable Document Format (.pdf)
  file that has been prepared using Adobe Acrobat
  6.0 Standard (or higher version) software.
• Electronic Submissions may not be transmitted to
  the Commission via e-mail.
• All electronic documents must be submitted to
  ACCSCT on compact disk (CD).

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Electronic Submission Format Requirements

• All files, to include Applications for Renewal of
  Accreditation and the Self Evaluation Report are
  to be submitted as one continuous PDF document
  using the Adobe Acrobat software.
• Only PDF versions will be accepted.
• Do not submit using other applications (Word)
• All submissions for Commission consideration
  should be bookmarked to identify all of the
  attachments and exhibits contained within the
  file.

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Electronic Submission Format Requirements

• Electronic submissions must be prepared in
  accordance with the Instructions for Electronic
  Submission, available online at www.accsct.org.
• All CDs must be clearly labeled with the school
  name, address, ACCSCT school number and the title
  of the document(s) included on the CDs.
•  

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Electronic Submission Format Requirements

• If the submission contains documentation that
  includes personal or confidential student or
  staff information that is not required for the
  Commissions review (e.g., social security
  numbers, dates of birth, etc.), please remove or
  redact that information.
• If an institution elects to send the Commission
  its submission on paper, the Commission has
  authorized the assessment of a 500 processing
  fee to convert the paper submission to an
  electronic format at the ACCSCT office.
•  

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Questions on Format Requirements?
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Electronic Submissions Application for Renewal
Accreditation Submission Checklist
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Electronic Application for Renewal Accreditation
Submission Checklist

• The submission of the CD must include the
  following
• A cover letter identifying the institution by
  name, address and six-digit school number and
  payment of the processing fee.
• Please also include a point of contact (name,
  phone number, and e-mail address) for the
  electronic submission.
• The Application for Renewal of Accreditation
  must be formatted as one Portable Document Format
  (.pdf) file with electronic bookmarks that
  correspond to the application and each
  application attachment.
• A bookmarked Table of Contents.
•  

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Electronic Application for Renewal Accreditation
Submission Checklist

• Completed and signed Application for Renewal of
  Accreditation with a corresponding electronic
  bookmark to indicate the location of the
  application.
• Documentation to support each Application
  Attachment using electronic bookmarks to indicate
  the location of each attachment.
• If the school elect to submit additional
  exhibits, then include an electronic bookmark to
  indicate the location of these documents.
•  

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Electronic Application for Renewal Accreditation
Submission Checklist

• For schools seeking renewal of accreditation,
  submit two CDs, each containing one PDF copy of
  the Application for Renewal of Accreditation
  within 45 days of attendance at the Institutional
  Enhancement Seminar.
• Institutions that attended the May 2009
  Institutional Enhancement Seminar for the purpose
  of seeking renewal of accreditation must submit
  the electronic Application for Renewal
  Accreditation on or before July 14, 2009
• All CDs must be clearly labeled with the school
  name, address, ACCSCT school number and the title
  of the document(s) included on the CDs.
•  

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Questions on the Submission Checklist?
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Electronic Application for Renewal Accreditation
Converting to PDF

• Before you convert the Word version of the
  Application for Renewal of Accreditation using
  Adobe Acrobat, ensure that you have finalized all
  of the narrative information on the application
  itself, as well as for any of the 21 attachments.
• Once the application narrative is finalized (we
  have not inserted exhibits yet), you will convert
  the Application to a PDF document using Adobe
  Acrobat.
• This will create a read-only version of the
  document, which you will bookmark and submit via
  CD for Commission consideration
•  

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Electronic Submissions Creating Bookmarks
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Electronic Application for Renewal Accreditation
Creating Bookmarks
Step One Open .pdf version of Application for
Renewal of Accreditation. Step Two Select
Bookmark Tab on left side of the page. Step
Three Delete any Auto-Created Bookmarks (should
clear out this section). Step Four Go to
First page of Application Step Five Click on
Options (just above Bookmark Tab) and Select
Create Bookmark. Step Six Create Name for
Bookmark (Example Application for Renewal of
Accreditation).  
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Questions on Creating Bookmarks?
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Electronic Submissions Inserting Pages/Exhibits
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Electronic Application for Renewal Accreditation
Inserting Exhibits
This step will now guide you through inserting
exhibits (e.g. copies of advertisements,
personnel reports, licenses, et. al) into the
final document. Documents will either have
been converted from Microsoft Word (personnel
reports), or Microsoft Excel (Program Chart) or
they will have been scanned from a hard copy
(state license, instructor certifications) and
saved as a PDF document in your designated
folder. For this example, we will focus on the
Certificate of Attendance from the Accreditation
Workshop (Application Attachment 2)
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Electronic Application for Renewal Accreditation
Inserting Exhibits
Step 1 Go to Attachment 2 Page (use your
bookmark) Step 2 On Left Side of Screen, Click
on Pages Tab. The Certificate of Attendance
(Attachment 2) should have already been
scanned and saved as a separate PDF file in your
designated folder. Step 3 Select Options
Step 4 Select Insert Pages Step 5 Go to
PDF file of scanned check, and Select This will
insert a copy of the scanned check into your
final Application file.  
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Questions on Inserting Pages/Exhibits?
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Electronic Submissions Creating Hyperlinks
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Electronic Application for Renewal Accreditation
Creating Hyperlinks
A hyperlink is another way to help with the
navigation of your Application for Renewal of
Accreditation. A hyperlink will take the
user to another section of the document,
typically by clicking on a highlighted word or
icon. A hyperlink will be the best method to
cross-reference the catalog and enrollment
agreement to their corresponding
checklists.  
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Electronic Application for Renewal Accreditation
Creating Hyperlinks
Step One Go to Table of Contents Page Step
Two Select Tools lt Advanced Editing lt Link
Tool Step Three Click and Drag Box around
Text to be linked Step Four Select Go to
Page View Click Next. Step Five Click Set
Link Step Six Double Click on Box Select
Actions Step Seven Select Edit and Enter
Page Number  
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Questions on Creating Hyperlinks?
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Additional Questions?
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Reminder, the deadline for the submission of the
two (2) CDs, which include a bookmarked version
of the schools Application for Renewal of
Accreditation is due in the Commissions office
on or before July 14, 2009 The deadline for the
submission of the four (4) CDs that include the
schools revised application and Self-Evaluation
Report is due on or before November 17, 2009
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The Application for Renewal Accreditation
Electronic Submissions