ACCREDITATION

Academic Standards

Accreditation Evaluation and raising the level of theological education is the main task of the NTA accreditation department

ACADEMIC STANDARDS FOR ANY FORM OF TRAINING

The main activity of the Association in accrediting its members is carried out in accordance with the Standards governing all aspects of the theological institution and according to the procedure approved by the relevant document – “The accreditation process”.The standards have been developed over several years and their development took into account the criteria and experience of the Standards of the remaining 7 accreditation associations that exist on other continents. Thus, the NTA standards in terms of approach and level comply with generally recognized international standards. Also, when developing these standards, the sociocultural situation in post-Soviet countries and the Asia Pacific tradition of education, adopted in the secular systems of Asia Pacific, were taken into account. Therefore, the level of standards was adopted corresponding to the level of non-theological educational institutions in these countries and the semantic content of many pedagogical concepts, including the names of degrees and ranks, their hierarchy, and so on, mainly corresponds to Asia Pacific rather than North American approaches. Work on standards has been and continues to be phased. By October 2008 Standards for full-time programs were developed and adopted, by October 2010, Standards for full-time programs were developed and adopted, preparatory work is ongoing to adopt standards for distance programs, as well as for non-theological (humanitarian) programs with a common Christian base. Work is also continuing to improve the already adopted and existing Standards, for which the relevant committee collects comments, suggestions and processes them. General ideas about forms of learning NTA schools can have both traditional – full-time (in-patient), and alternative forms of education (full-time, part-time, part-time, and others). At the same time, standards that evaluate the educational process in schools of different forms of education in different ways should bring the result of education to the same level regardless of form. That is, it is assumed that the diploma obtained in an accredited school confirms the level of education indicated in it, regardless of the form of training – inpatient or alternative. Thus, the standards of alternative forms of training seek to find equivalent workloads between full-time and other forms.Full-time or stationary is a form of training in which students spend the bulk of the study time (at least 85%) and acquire the bulk of their knowledge and skills while on the school’s campus. Part-time is called such a form of training in which at least one-third of the study time and study load falls on students staying on the School’s territory, and two-thirds (or less) of the load falls on independent work outside the School. Correspondence course is a form of training in which students carry out the bulk of the workload on their own (outside the School) and spend only 10-15% of the training time at the School, where their knowledge and skills are monitored, material for independent work is given and where they receive the installation and instructions for doing independent work. Other forms of alternative education (especially using modern computer technology) require additional definition.

Accreditation Process

Accreditation Evaluation and raising the level of theological education is the main task of the NTA accreditation department

HOW TO GET ACCREDITATION?

The accreditation process is divided into several stages, although in some educational institutions the term and structure of assessment can differ from each other.

INTRODUCTION

The process is divided into several stages, although in some educational institutions the term and structure of the assessment may differ from each other. In any case, a prerequisite for an educational institution to obtain accreditation status is membership in the National Theological Association. The accreditation process begins with the receipt of an application from the educational institution, indicating the desire to obtain accreditation for a particular curriculum (or department). In this case, the Executive Director sends the School all the necessary information material (accreditation manual containing standards, procedures, questionnaires, etc.) Accreditation process

1. PRELIMINARY COMMENTS

1.1. Accreditation is a lengthy process in which an educational institution, its structure, program, structure and life are assessed by the school itself and the accreditation commissions consisting of qualified ministers with authority in the gospel education system and the necessary training.
1.2. The process is divided into several stages, although in some educational institutions the term and structure of the assessment may differ from each other. In any case, a prerequisite for an educational institution to obtain accreditation status is membership in the Asia pacific Accreditation Association.

2. CANDIDATE STATUS

2.1. The accreditation process begins with the receipt of an application from the educational institution, indicating the desire to obtain accreditation for a particular curriculum (or department). In this case, the Executive Director sends the School all the necessary information material (accreditation manual containing standards, procedures, questionnaires, etc.)
2.2. The return of a preliminary questionnaire filled out by the School with confirmation of its readiness to pay compensation for the transportation costs of the accreditation commission and the established hanorara are considered the official start of the accreditation process.
2.3. The Executive Director, in agreement with the Association Council, forms an accreditation commission for this educational institution from the reserve of accreditation commissions approved by the general meeting, and transmits the school statement and a completed preliminary questionnaire to the Chairman of this commission.
An accreditation commission consisting of 3-4 people, at least one of whom must be from the country representing the School, visits the educational institution at the agreed time and provides a confidential report addressed to the Chairman of the Council, which is presented at the next meeting of the Council. The commission usually includes an Executive Director or an experienced representative of the accreditation committee.
2.4. The purpose of the first visit is to compile a general impression of the School and to determine whether there are fundamental obstacles to the accreditation of the School. That is, the commission concludes whether it is realistic to start the accreditation process for this school. All materials received are submitted to the next Council of the Association, which, with the positive conclusion of the accreditation commission, presents the School with the status of “Candidate for accreditation”.
2.5. After assigning the School the status of Candidate, she can indicate this in all of her publications and handouts, and she also undertakes to pay the Association membership accreditation fees for each student of the program submitted for accreditation.

3. STATUS OF FULL ACCREDITATION

.1. Immediately after the council decides to grant the institution the status of a candidate for accreditation, it can begin the process of obtaining full accreditation status for a specific program (department).
To do this, having received from the Executive Director a written decision of the council and the “Self-Assessment Guide”, the School should create a committee of 2-3 people, appointing a chairman. This committee is engaged in the School’s self-assessment, and this process, as a rule, takes place throughout the whole school year.
3.2. Self-assessment is carried out using the “Guide” and in accordance with the standards and criteria approved by the NTA General Meeting. If necessary, the School may receive the required advice from the Executive Director or from a specially appointed expert.
3.3. After completion of the self-assessment, but not earlier than one year after obtaining candidate status, the School submits a report in the specified form, approved by the head of this educational institution. This report is sent to each member of the appointed accreditation commission and to the Executive Director, who does a preliminary check. After this, the institution may send an invitation letter for an evaluation visit.
3.4. The assessment visit is made by the accreditation commission, at the time agreed upon with the school after reviewing the results of the self-assessment and after guarantees from the educational institution to compensate for the transportation costs of the accreditation commission and the established fee.
The commission visits the school and submits a confidential report of its visit to the management of the institution being evaluated, and after receiving comments, corrections and (or) the School’s consent to its text, the commission sends its report on the evaluation visit to the NTA Council.
3.5. The report on the assessment visit should describe the general situation of the institution, indicate its strengths and weaknesses, the work carried out to bring the institution closer to the NTA standards, and it should also give recommendations on how to change the situation in the future. The report should also contain an assessment of the quality of the self-assessment carried out by the educational institution. At the end of the report, the commission makes recommendations to the Accreditation Council, however, the decision to assign full accreditation status is made only by the Council and approved by the general meeting.
3.6. The Accreditation Council may decide to grant the institution the status of full Accreditation, with subsequent approval by the general meeting. The Council may also postpone accreditation for a certain period, indicating to the school the conditions that it must fulfill in order to obtain full accreditation status, or the Council may reject accreditation altogether.
3.7. Full accreditation is possible no earlier than 1.5 years after the assignment of candidate status of accreditation, but provided that the accredited program had at least one graduation of students.
f there is at least one already accredited program in the educational institution, the accreditation period of any other program can be reduced to half a year under the same condition that there was at least one graduation of students in the newly accredited program.
3.8. After the approval of the status of “Full accreditation” by the general membership meeting of the Association, the school has the right to indicate this status in all its publications and brochures.

4. MAINTENANCE OF THE ACCREDITATION STATUS

4.1. Full accreditation status is retained by the school only if it and its accredited curriculum continue to meet the standards approved by the NTA General Meeting.
4.2. Schools with full accreditation status are required to submit a written report to the Executive Director once a year (by October 5) in the form approved by the Accreditation Council.
4.3. If an educational institution is undergoing major changes in the program or organizational structure, the School management is obliged to inform the executive director of this within one month.
4.4. Once every 3-5 years, the accreditation commission, drawn up by the Executive Director in agreement with the Council of the reserve members, re-evaluates. Before this, the School submits a self-assessment report and guarantees payment of the transportation costs of the accreditation commission and the corresponding fee.
The report on the second visit corresponds to the report on the evaluation visit and goes through the same approval procedure at the Accreditation Council, which makes a decision on the extension of the status of “Full Accreditation” with the subsequent approval of this status by the general meeting, or the Council puts the School under review with a certain deadline.
4.5. A comment for a certain period is established for educational institutions or individual programs in which serious shortcomings are noticed. The remark does not deprive the school of accreditation status, but only encourages it to correct these shortcomings.
If, within the specified time period, the School has not corrected the deficiencies noted, the Council may decide to suspend the status of Full Accreditation and send an extraordinary assessment commission to the school. According to the report of this commission, the Council can draw conclusions on the deprivation of the status of full accreditation of this institution. This decision is approved by the NTA General Meeting and brought to the attention of the general public. After the approval of such a decision by the general meeting, the School is deprived of the right to indicate its accreditation status in its printed materials.
4.5. To restore full accreditation status, the Evaluation Commission is again sent to the School at its request on the terms of the evaluation visit.

5. APPEAL AND EXIT

5.1. The school can appeal any decision of the Council by making an appeal at the next general meeting of members of the association. Appealing a decision of a general meeting in a judicial or other manner is not possible, since NTA is an organization with voluntary membership.
5.2. Any educational institution can withdraw its application for accreditation at any time or withdraw from the NTA. The same way out of E NTA occurs when the school changes the profession of faith, if the NTA charter is not respected, and if the membership dues are not paid in time.
5.3. When an educational institution leaves the NTA for any reason, it automatically loses its accreditation, which is immediately notified to the general public. Also in this case, the school loses the right to indicate the accreditation status in its printed materials, while the contributions and other expenses of the School and its donations are not returned.