NACIQI Meeting Delayed by Government Shutdown

"The Department of Education has delayed the semiannual convening of its accreditation advisory committee for the second time this year, according to an email sent to committee members and obtained by Inside Higher Ed. The meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, originally slated to take place in July, had already been pushed back to Oct. 21. Now, as a result of the government shutdown, it's been rescheduled for Dec. 16."

""As many of you know, most department staff, including those supporting NACIQI, have been furloughed and the Department has suspended operations except for specific excepted activities," Jeffrey Andrade, deputy assistant secretary for policy, planning and innovation, wrote in the email. "The Department will be publishing a notice in the Federal Register shortly announcing this change of meeting date.""

"The meeting was slated to include Under Secretary Nicholas Kent's first comments on accreditation since he took office, as well as compliance reports from five different accreditors. Three of those agencies are institutional: the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the New England Commission of Higher Education, and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission. The other two are programmatic: the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education and the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy."

The Department of Education postponed the semiannual meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity twice this year, moving it from July to Oct. 21 and now to Dec. 16 because of the government shutdown and staff furloughs. Department staff supporting NACIQI were furloughed and operations were suspended except for excepted activities; a Federal Register notice will announce the new date. The meeting would include Under Secretary Nicholas Kent's first comments on accreditation and compliance reports from five accreditors: three institutional (Middle States, New England, WASC Senior College and University Commission) and two programmatic (Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education; Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy). By the rescheduled date, terms of six of the committee's 18 members would expire, and six Trump-appointed members were expected to be unveiled.

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