Accreditation Process Essay Example for Free

Accreditation Process Essay Accreditation refers to the recognition given to institutions which have fully met specific standards of educational quality by an agency or an association. In the US, the relevant agencies undertake a review of education quality at all levels including elementary, secondary, colleges and universities. The agencies set basic standards reflecting the qualities of sound educational programs (Hasley et al, 1986 pp 66). They then develop procedures aimed at determining whether the institutions and programs meet the set standards. Many other countries lack accreditation systems like those used in the US and instead rely mainly on government agencies to check their education quality and standards. In Canada, provincial government authorities work closely with private educational associations in periodically assessing the quality of universities, colleges and schools. Accreditation offers standards of excellence that help in encouraging educational institutions in improving their programs. It also provides accountability for institutions’ educational policy, and creates criteria for certifying professions like medicine and law.   Furthermore, it helps prospective students to identify quality institutions, while facilitating student transfer from an institution to another. Accreditation is also among the factors used in determining the institutions and programs eligible for receiving federal and private funds. The accreditation procedure for any agency entails five fundamental stages, each of which has many other subtasks under it. First, the agency must establish the criteria or standards of academic excellence in consultation with the educational institution being accredited. The second stage involves development of procedures enabling institutions to evaluate themselves deeply, to help in determining if they meet the set accreditation standards or not. In case they do not meet the established standards, the institutions must go back to the drawing board and make the necessary adjustments and improvements to satisfy the required demands. Depending on the level of compliance, this may require the institution to invest some more time and resources and resources into it. Thirdly, the agency performs an evaluation aimed at determining first-hand if the institution really meets the set standards. This involves examining the institution’s facilities as well as its resources, both physical and human. This is done until the agency is fully convinced that the institution meets its minimum requirements. The evaluation is done by the agencies’ experts, who are usually armed with specific requirements for accreditation. Fourthly, the agency then grants the accreditation to the institution after it is convinced that the necessary requirements have been met. It then publishes a list of institutions that have met similar requirements and have been awarded accreditation by the agency, including the time of the accreditation. Finally, the agency periodically reviews these institutions to find out if they still maintain educational quality standards. This is done to ensure the institutions do not compromise on the quality of educational standards. All accreditation agencies utilize these steps even though inspection procedures and specific criteria differ depending on the agency. Current issues in the accreditation process Problems of the Law School Accreditation Process For the past ten or so years, the American Bar Association’s accrediting arm has faced a lot of criticism with regard to its standards. The association has been accused of having poorly monitored standards that are not related to law school quality (Marty et al, 1991). Critics are of the view that ABA’s accreditation standards lack correlation with professional competence and institutional quality. The accreditation process puts emphasis on high cost inputs; like requirements for physical facilities, library collections and the number of professors available. Moreover, it considers test scores at law school admission, which has been criticized as not being related to professional skills and academic achievement. The association has also been accused of restricting low income students and minorities by putting too much emphasis on standardized tests as well as raising tuition fees (Luebchow, 2007). The critics have accused the ABA of being inconsistent and using secret rules, which are not made public or disclosed to schools, to make accreditation decisions. The Department of Education has also complained about ABA’s failure in abiding by the department’s specific requirements (Hagan, 2004 pp201). The Congress has also raised concerns about the association’s accreditation. Both the federal officials and law schools have often disapproved ABA’s accreditation process from the early 1990s. The Massachusetts School of Law, which has itself not been accredited, has for long strongly criticized the association. In 1993 the school sued ABA citing violation of antitrust law because it functioned as a cartel and set unfair standards that only raised costs, yet were not connected to law school quality. The Justice Department filed a similar suit in 1994, leading to a ten year consent decree, which is now defunct (Hagan, 2004). The Education Department has also crossed heads with the association over its failure to comply with the department’s criteria for recognition since the 1990s. These deficiencies led to the limiting of the association’s recognition to just three years in 1997. Later in 1998, the Education Department’s staff recommended the limiting, suspending or terminating the association’s recognition as nationally recognized accreditation agency (Luebchow, 2007).

Love and Licorice :: essays research papers

In order for a relationship between a man and a woman to flourish and grow, both people should be reasonably mature and honest with one another. Their goals in life should be similar. Otherwise, it is difficult to maintain a substantial base in the partnership, and inevitably, it will wither and die. Hemingway ¡Ã‚ ¯s "Hills Like White Elephants" is a very short story covering less than forty minutes in the lives of the two main characters. It doesn ¡Ã‚ ¯t take long, however, to discover that the relationship between them is not particularly deep or meaningful. Jig and her lover lead a nomadic life, spending nights here and there, as the labels on their luggage indicate. All they really do, she laments, is "look at things and try new drinks." They bicker childishly; when he warns her to "cut it out," she retorts, "you started it." In an attempt to make clever conversation, she observes aloud that the line of hills off in the distance "look[s] like white elephants." Instead of trying to make her feel "bright," Jig ¡Ã‚ ¯s companion tells her flatly, he ¡Ã‚ ¯s "never seen one." Annoyed by his lack of imagination, she attacks with "no, you wouldn ¡Ã‚ ¯t have." It seems that they must really "try" hard to "have a fine time." This is not a mature relationship. Nor is it honest. Rather than admit the fact that he doesn ¡Ã‚ ¯t want the responsibility of a baby, Jig ¡Ã‚ ¯s lover tries to flatter her by saying, "I don ¡Ã‚ ¯t want anybody but you." He also avoids taking any blame for their faltering relationship. After all, being pregnant is "the only thing" that has made them unhappy. He makes light of the abortion by telling her, "It ¡Ã‚ ¯s not really an operation" and that it ¡Ã‚ ¯s "perfectly simple," even "natural." Of course, she "doesn ¡Ã‚ ¯t" have to if she "doesn ¡Ã‚ ¯t want to," but he knows that it ¡Ã‚ ¯s "the best thing to do." Best for whom, I wonder. Jig really thinks she ¡Ã‚ ¯s ready to settle down and have a child, or she wouldn ¡Ã‚ ¯t be struggling so hard with the question of abortion. She too has trouble approaching the problem honestly. When she announces "I ¡Ã‚ ¯ll do it because I don ¡Ã‚ ¯t care about me," she ¡Ã‚ ¯s hoping that he ¡Ã‚ ¯ll feel guilty and change his mind. When he continues to resist, she tries to cut the conversation off: "I ¡Ã‚ ¯ll scream," she threatens. Jig is beginning to realize that life may not turn out the way she had planned.

Traditions and Beliefs

A  tradition  is a practice, custom, or  story  that is memorized and passed down from generation to generation, originally without the need for a  writing system. Traditions are often presumed to be  ancient, unalterable, and deeply important, though they may sometimes be much less â€Å"natural† than is presumed. Some traditions were deliberately invented for one reason or another, often to highlight or enhance the importance of a certain institution. Traditions may also be changed to suit the needs of the day, and the changes can become accepted as a part of the ancient tradition. Folk Beliefs, otherwise known as â€Å"Superstitious Beliefs†, forms part of a people's value systems and culture. They basically reflect the customs, traditions, and mores of a group, which has been based on religious beliefs, opinions, or popular old practices. Also they tell of how a people view the unknown and the Means to appease the gods that control the future. Filipinos still adhere to numerous widely-held folk beliefs that have no scientific or logical basis but maybe backed-up by some past experiences (yet can be dismissed as mere coincidence). Some are still practiced to this day primarily because of ‘there's nothing to lose if we comply' attitude while the others are totally ignored for it seemed downright ridiculous. A number of Filipinos have Folk Beliefs about life, family, luck, wealth, etc. Some of which were presented by the four groups last Monday, April 26, 2010. I have noticed that almost all groups presented folk beliefs about courtship and marriage. Courtship is one that is still being practiced among the strictest of the Filipino families. This is performed by the male (who is the suitor since it is wrong to do it the opposite way) visiting the home of the female. In the olden days, courtship doesn't start until the male suitor had obtained permission from the parents. This was done with the male suitor being accompanied by another respectable elder and approaching either the father or the mother of the female and obtaining permissions days in advanced to visit at a particular day and time. Nowadays this form of getting the parent's permission is still being practiced in the provinces, however, due to western influences, there are ome variations more adaptable to the modern times. One alternative is to make a phone call, asking for the parents' or guardian's permission through an elder to schedule a visit. Another way is for the suitor to approach the parents in a public place, and informally asking for permission to visit. Either way, it is to show proper respect to ask for permission prior to the formal visit. Proper ly greeting the parents by placing the back of the right hand of the parents to the suitor's forehead is practiced to show respect. This is called pagmamano in Tagalog. When the permission has been granted, the suitor whether accompanied by a friend or an elder will visit the girl's home and offers gifts. Gift bags or boxes of goodies or Filipino snacks purchased from a local store and flowers are generally given. The snacks or other goods are offered to the family of the girl then the flowers and special sweets (like chocolate or candies) are given to the girl. In a strict Filipino home, during courtship, the parents are present during the first visit. This is the opportunity to get to know each other. This is sometimes called courting the parents first and winning their hearts and approval then letting the boy or suitor court the girl. Subsequent visits are then scheduled if all went well during the first visit and, depending on how long the courtship will last; the answer is given by the girl with the parents' knowledge as well. After the courtship stage and the girl decides that she also would like to take the suitor's offer of love and commitment, then the girl will give the favorable answer to the suitor. At times it takes months before the answer is given. In the olden days, strict parents would sometimes give a series of tests, having the suitor do some chores like fetching some water from the well, cutting firewood to be used for cooking dinner, helping the father of the girl do some yard or farm work. Nowadays, a more modern approach is being performed by the suitor whereby he offers gentlemanly help to the parents, sometimes carrying groceries as he sees them walking down the streets, offering them a ride if he happens to be driving their way, doing other favors that can help win their favor and better his chances of getting the girl's love as well. After the girl announces to the parents that she is ready to be engaged the parents would be around to congratulate the suitor. From then on, the suitor is treated like a member of the family. Sometimes, even before marriage, the suitor is introduced to the friends and relatives of the girl's immediate family as future part of the family or future son-in-law. Engagements may take longer than a year, and then the date shall be set for marriage. During the waiting period they are free to go on dates, at times with a chaperone. Nowadays, after the first few chaperoned dates they can date on their own, especially those who live in the cities where it is not as strict as in the rural areas of the country. When the two decides that they are ready to get married, then the pamamanhikan (official request of the male and his parents or guardians for the girl's hand in marriage) begins. This is usually done in the evening after dinner. Then, if the parents of the girl agree, they will give them their blessings and set the date of the wedding. The engagement sometimes last from several months to a couple of years due to extensive preparations. The majority of Filipino weddings are now Catholic weddings, but some native traditions remain. Most have special â€Å"sponsors† who act as witnesses to the marriage. The principal sponsors could be godparents, counselors, a favorite uncle and aunt, even a parent. Secondary sponsors handle special parts of the ceremony, such as the candle, cord and veil ceremonies. Candle sponsors light two candles, which the bride and groom use to light a single candle to symbolize the joining of the two families and to invoke the light of Christ in their married life. Veil sponsors place a white veil over the bride's head and the groom's shoulders, a symbol of two people clothed as one. Cord sponsors drape the yugal (a decorative silk cord) in a figure-eight shape–to symbolize everlasting fidelity–over the shoulders of the bride and groom. The groom gives the bride 13 coins, or arrhae, blessed by the priest, as a sign of his dedication to his wife's well-being and the welfare of their future children. The four groups, as far as I can remember, presented more beliefs and traditions about death, marriage, life and luck. These were: †¢ The table should not be cleared while an unmarried woman is still eating because she might end up an old maid. †¢ Do not sweep your floor at night or else you are sweeping your luck out of the house. †¢ If one cuts his fingernails at night, a member of the family will die. †¢ One must not organize teams of 3 or 13, otherwise one member will die. †¢ Eating Pancit on their birthday will enable them to live longer. †¢ The use of the word â€Å"Po† or â€Å"Opo† means â€Å"Yes† in a very polite manner. It is usually said by a young person to an elder. Holding a family reunion to celebrate a birthday in the family, fiestas, for Christmas or New Year's Celebration. †¢ One must be able to have â€Å"handa† during feast days. The first belief tells me that when you clear the table while an unmarried woman is still eating, that woman will stay single all her life. I still don’t believe in such belief because I have met and seen single women getting married even if this clearing of tables while they ate happened to them. This is also my very first time to hear such belief. The second belief is one I heard when I was still very young. I was at my grandfather’s house at Negros Oriental one summer. One night, there housemaid swept the floor and was scolded by my grandfather’s sister for doing such act. I wondered why and so I asked my parents about it. They, too, didn’t know why sweeping floors during night was not allowed. Now, I know why. I still don’t believe in such belief although luck in that house has gone in and out. I believe it’s just coincidental when someone sweeps during the night and then you become very unlucky in the future. The third belief is somehow coincidental for me when you cut your fingernails and someone in your family dies. I have also tried a lot of times already cutting my nails at night and I have also tried losing a member of my family already but I don’t think it was because of what I did. I don’t see any connection between cutting fingernails during the night and death. With the fourth belief, I have heard this since I was in my grade school years. I still hear such until now. I usually go around with two of my very close friends. We always take pictures of ourselves yet not one of us has died, fortunately. I was told that whoever is in the middle will die first. It sounds pretty scary at first especially when I was still very young and innocent. However, as I grew up and hear such, it becomes lame to me and somehow funny because I have had lots of experience already with having two friends with me. The group presented this by three people who was about to take a picture of themselves and then their friend told them they shouldn’t be three otherwise the one in the middle will die. And so they invited more people to join them so they wouldn’t be three. The fifth belief tells me that eating Pancit will make your life longer. I always hear such especially during festivities and celebrations. On birthday celebrations, there is always pancit on the table because it is said that this will make you live longer on earth. They always say â€Å"pansit, pampahaba ng buhay†. I’m pretty sure it is such because pancit is long. We don’t usually practice such tradition in our family. The sixth belief shows respect to the older people when you say Opo or Po. It is our tradition to say such. We also â€Å"mano† or kiss the right hand of an older person when we greet them. Actually, you don't really kiss that hand. You just bow a bit, and gently take the older person's right hand with your right hand, and move it towards your own forehead. Sometimes, it's the back of their hand that touches your forehead. In our family, we practice such tradition as a sign of respect. When we got to our province in Negros and get to meet with the very many relatives of ours, we â€Å"mano† every older relative. Other relatives of ours especially my aunts and uncles who are in their late 20’s and early 30’s wont let us â€Å"mano† them because they don’t want to be â€Å"old†. The seventh and eight traditions have been practiced for years by almost all Filipinos. These happenings bring family members together especially those who are living away or are working in different places and rarely have the chance or time to come home. The presence of family visitors and reuniting members delight the other members of the family, aside from stories and gossips to tell. And, if a visitor is a foreigner or a relative who comes from abroad, the family is very proud especially when the neighbors are around, and offers everything just to please the visitor. Once the visitor is gone, the family will either praise or mock the visitor. It’s mostly not the presence but the presents. We always celebrate feast days by having handa and inviting people to eat inside the house. In our family, we do the same during our village’s fiesta. We invite friends, relatives and neighbors to dine and celebrate with us. Such tradition brings families and friends closer and patches up the times you missed together. With the very many traditions and beliefs of the Filipinos, I can say we only practice a few. Our family is not the type who believes in such beliefs. We only practice those traditions that are very common like celebrating festivities and occasions and giving of gifts during special days. I don’t believe in these beliefs because they sound ridiculous for me but I respect them and the people who believe in them. We were not raised believing in folk beliefs because they are mere stories and doesn’t have any connection with the real world. Sometimes, I wonder why people have made so many beliefs. Is it their way of scaring people especially beliefs about death and misfortune? I believe it is only you who can bring luck to yourself and it is not harmful to believe and practice such beliefs and traditions. I just learned that folk beliefs are not real and not practical and one’s life must not always work around with beliefs.

Analysis of Toni Morrisons Beloved Essay - 4369 Words

Analysis of Toni Morrisons Beloved Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize winning book Beloved, is a historical novel that serves as a memorial for those who died during the perils of slavery. The novel serves as a voice that speaks for the silenced reality of slavery for both men and women. Morrison in this novel gives a voice to those who were denied one, in particular African American women. It is a novel that rediscovers the African American experience. The novel undermines the conventional idea of a story’s time scheme. Instead, Morrison combines the past and the present together. The book is set up as a circling of memories of the past, which continuously reoccur in the book. The past is embedded in the present, and the present has no†¦show more content†¦Throughout Beloved, the past is continually brought forth in the present, both physically and mentally through visual images, particularly those relating to slavery. The life at sweet home is all too real to esc ape for Sethe, her family, and all the others who once lived there. Sethe is continually brought back to Sweet Home through her rememory, against her own will to forget. Physically, Sethe’s body bares her memory of Sweet Home; the choketree that is on her back, a maze that Paul D describes as a â€Å"decorated work of an ironsmith too passionate to display† (17). Yet, it is not the physical markings that cause the most pain to those who survived the bonds of slavery, as the story strongly points out, it is the mental images that haunt them along with past emotions of fear, horror, and regret, that manifest themselves physically with vengeance. Morrison uses the word rememory to mean the act of remembering a memory. This rememory is when a memory is revisited, whether physically or mentally. Yet the word is not a verb but a noun. It is an actual thing, person or a place that takes on the existence of a noun. When Sethe explains rememory to Denver, she states, â€Å"If a house burns down, it’s gone, but the place-the picture of it -stays, and not just in my rememory, but out there, in the world. What I remember is a picture floating around there outside my head. I mean, even ifShow MoreRelatedCharacter Analysis Of Toni Morrisons Beloved926 Words   |  4 Pagesday? Beloved is a story written by Toni Morrison about the hardships that lead the protagonist, Sethe, to kill her own daughter, who would later come back from the grave. Sethe is a middle-aged, former slave who has experienced the cruelest, most unjust torment in her life – slavery. She escaped this barbaric life, but when the chance of being taken away comes back, she has to murder her own daughter to save her. Through close examination of the book, movie, and many other character analysis, it isRead MoreToni Morrison s Beloved : Dehumanization Of Slavery And Its Effects On African Americans And Their Basic Forms Of1268 Words   |  6 PagesToni Morrison’s Beloved shows the dehumanization of slavery and its effects on African-Americans and their basic forms of existence—specifically motherhood. Morrison depicts the strong maternal bond between Sethe and her children. Most importantly, her use of Sethe’s controversial act of infanticide shows the lengths that Sethe will take to protect her children from slavery. Morrison’s depiction of Sethe’s motherhood shows how slavery has deconstructed the Eurocentric expectations and traditionsRead MoreBeloved: Critique with New Historicism1749 Words   |  7 Pages Beloved is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel written by Toni Morrison and published in 1987. The story follows Sethe as she attempts to make peace with her present (for her, post Civil War America) and her past as a former slave and the atrocities she suffered at the hands of the benevolent Gardner family. Information given to the readers from different perspectives, multiple characters, and various time periods allows her audience to piece together the history of the family, their l ives, asRead MoreBeloved : A Reconstruction Of Our Past1705 Words   |  7 PagesKarla Ximena Leyte Professor John Crossley Short Close Reading Paper #2 November 20, 2015 Beloved: A reconstruction of our past Beloved by Toni Morrison is a reconstruction of history told by the African American perspective, a perspective that is often shadowed or absent in literature. Her novel presents a cruel demonstration of the horrors endured by slaves and the emotional and psychological effects it created for the African American community. It unmasks the realities of slavery, in whichRead MoreToni Morrison s Beloved And The Ghosts Of Slavery : Historical Recovery1691 Words   |  7 Pages In the novel Beloved, Toni Morrison develops character Beloved as an allegorical figure to embody slavery’s horrific past and the lasting impact that unresolved past trauma has upon the present. Morrison develops the character Beloved to represent all the unremembered and untold stories of slavery and to further the message that we must maintain a collective memory of slavery in order to pursue a hopeful future. Morrison develops Beloved as a character through her interactions with other charactersRead MoreA nalysis Of The Bluest Eye1555 Words   |  7 Pagesbe a victim of sexual assault but also, the punishment of the offender. Toni Morrison, The author of The Bluest Eye, a victim of segregation, deals with sexual assault and segregation in her book. Chole Anthony Wofford, who goes by the name of Toni Morrison when writing her books, was born in Lorain, Ohio on February 18, 1931. Her father had several jobs to support their family, while her mother worked as a domestic worker. Toni lived in an integrated neighborhood. However, she did not become awareRead MoreTwo Contrasting Views of Slavery in Literature: Beloved and American Negro Slavery2068 Words   |  9 PagesIn this essay, I will be examining the works of two authors on the topic of slavery in America: Ulrich B. Phillips American Negro Slavery (1918) and Toni Morrison Beloved (1987). One writes as a Southerner and a historian who is defending southern slaveholders and draws upon contemporary racial theory to justify the syst em as beneficial to African Americans. The other writes as an African-American woman who is looking to write women into history and in doing so, add a female voice to the pastRead MoreAnalysis Of Toni Morrison s Beloved1434 Words   |  6 PagesI. SUBJECT Beloved by Toni Morrison opens in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1873 set in the Reconstruction era of American history. Sethe eighteen years ago escaped slavery with her children to live with her mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, in a house on 124 Bluestone Road often referred to simply as 124. The novel unfolds on two different time periods, that of Sethe’s time at Sweet Home plantation as a slave and that of the present. Her qualities of motherhood have overtaken Sethe’s life and have driven away herRead More Exploring Personal Choices in Toni Morrisons Beloved Essay1466 Words   |  6 PagesExploring Personal Choices in Toni Morrisons Beloved At the climax of her book Beloved, Toni Morrison uses strong imagery to examine the mind of a woman who is thinking of killing her own children. She writes, Because the truth was simple, not a long-drawn-out record of flowered shifts, tree cages, selfishness, ankle ropes and wells. Simple: she was squatting in the garden and when she saw them coming and recognized schoolteachers hat, she heard wings. Little hummingbirds stuck their needleRead MoreAnalysis Of Beloved By Toni Morrison2078 Words   |  9 PagesAn Analysis of Beloved as a Portrayal of American History Toni Morrison’s 1988 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Beloved is clearly a work of well deserved literary acclaim. It has been hailed as one of the most revolutionary, poetic, and poignant pieces of modern American literature. The work is characterized by it’s portrayal of the â€Å"Slave Narrative† and follows the strife of former slave and mother: Sethe as she is tormented by the memories of her past, the haunting of her home, and the appearance