George Mason University continues SACS accreditation with its branch campus in Ras Al Khaimah

The accreditation was recently granted by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), one of seven education regional boards in the U.S.

"This accreditation is extremely significant for George Mason University, Ras Al Khaimah Campus," says vice president Professor Sharon Siverts.

"It is an indication of quality assurance and recognition of institutional excellence. Our students, who are all earning George Mason University degrees, can be confident that this campus has met rigorous international criteria for higher education."

"It was always our intention to provide Mason programs in Ras Al Khaimah that truly are equivalent to what we offer in the United States, in substance and in the degrees awarded. The SACS confirmation of accreditation is another important indication that we're doing precisely this, and it adds to the vitality of this branch of the university," said Dr. Peter Stearns, Provost.

SACS's demanding accreditation criteria calls for excellence in how an institution performs in relation to its mission and goals. In 2005 George Mason University notified the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools' Commission on Colleges that it intended to develop a campus in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. At the request of the Commission on Colleges, the university prepared a prospectus to describe the campus, its purpose and how it would be operated and assessed. The Commission on Colleges in 2006 accepted the prospectus and included the campus within the scope of Mason's accreditation.

The commission sent a substantive change committee to review the Ras Al Khaimah campus in March 2007 to confirm that the campus remains in compliance with the Commission on Colleges' Principles of Accreditation. The campus leadership, faculty and staff took the opportunity of the visit to articulate the mission, values, goals and objectives of the campus. The committee examined campus policies, procedures and practices in light of that mission and the larger mission of George Mason University.

After the visit, the campus used the recommendations of the substantive change committee as a further spur to improvements, particularly in the areas of assessment and faculty qualifications. These improvements were included in the university's response to the report to the substantive change committee. The Commission on Colleges accepted George Mason University's response to the report of the substantive change committee, continuing its accreditation after review of the substantive change.

"When an institution has earned accreditation by the Commission on Colleges, it signifies that it has a purpose appropriate to higher education and has resources, programs and services sufficient to accomplish and sustain that purpose," confirmed Dr. Belle S. Wheelan,
President of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.