When A Program Almost Loses its Accreditation - What's Next?

John Boylan
Apr 16, 2018
3 min read

The University of Ottawa was faced with an embarrassing situation in the summer of 2015. They were on the verge of losing their accreditation status for their residency program in neurosurgery - unless they address major weaknesses found with the program in two years. The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada submitted their letter to the Vice-Dean and Assistant Dean of Post-Graduate Education stating the major deficiencies (10 in all) that needed to be corrected immediately. "A notice of intent to withdraw accreditation is given when there is 'major and/or continuing non-compliance with one or more standards which calls into question the educational environment and/or integrity of the program,' the [R]oyal [C]ollege’s letter says."(Butler, 2015) http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/u-of-o-receives-notice-of-intent-to-withdraw-accreditation-of-neurosurgery-program

The major weakness identified were as follows:

Concern the program doesn’t allow residents to take on increasing responsibility in the operating room, due to lack of delegation by faculty.
An insufficient number of pediatric cases to satisfy the specialty requirements.
Potentially inadequate exposure to “functional neurosurgery,” such as epilepsy.
Commitments to patients that prevent residents from attending some components of the educational program.
Concerns about faculty engagement in teaching.
Resident teaching is not fully assessed.
Mid-rotation assessments are not completed for rotations of less than four months.

The Department of Surgery did receive some good news in the review in areas such as they have a strong Program Director and a solid research program. The Vice-Dean was confident that these issues could be addressed within the timeframe given - and also received support from the residents themselves. In addition, they did provide the Royal College with an internal review report, a residents' report, a program questionnaire and recommendation from a special committee to help support their case to stay accredited.

So...why the panic if a school is not accredited? To answer this one needs to understand what accreditation is. A good explanation of accreditation is stated in the article entitle Understanding Accreditation - "accreditation is a voluntary evaluation process that institutions of higher education undergo in order to maintain standards of educational quality agreed upon by members of an accrediting body. Accreditation assessments may include self-study on the part of the institution as well as evaluations by representatives of peer institutions who belong to the same accrediting agency."https://www.collegesanddegrees.com/accreditation. As the author points out the benefits of having a degree from an accredited institution is tremendous - as this lets employers know that the program has met solid applicable academic standards. And, when competing in the job market, having this assurance on your side that your school has been recognized by an outside governing agency for its program content and delivery is a sure confidence boost for you. Accreditation is a very long and tedious process - but one that is quite fulfilling as well. It really shines a light on the strengths and weaknesses of a school in terms of its administrative practices, its policies and procedures, its external relations, its financial status, its programs and courses, its partnerships with other institutions, and its responsibility to the community. I was fortunate to participate in an accreditation process for our university - Capilano University - when I worked there several years back. As there is no governing accreditation body in Canada - we chose to be accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) - who were housed in Washington, Seattle. The entire accreditation process took - to the best of my recollection - about three years. It was an in-depth look at the entire University through a microscopic lens. At the time, I was the Supervisor of Financial Aid and Awards and remember having my entire department be evaluated from top to bottom to ensure that we were meeting their strict standards - from areas such as records management, to fund disbursements, to student relations - a very intense process. But... I am delighted to say... they did receive accreditation - a great feat for an undergraduate school in North Vancouver - and I glad that I was apart of this accomplishment.