| Accreditors are membership organizations, and collectively they represent over 6,000 degree granting and non-degree granting institutions (Council for Higher Education Accreditation, 2015). Accreditation serves two main purposes, (1) to ensure institutions meet minimal requirements and (2) to ensure institutions are engaged in continuous improvement (Ewell, 2008). Across the accreditors key elements for maintaining accreditation are similar. Institutions reflect on their processes through a self-study, which is then reviewed by external peer reviewers. Continuous improvement efforts are intended to be an opportunity for the institutions to better their quality. These efforts are either incorporated into the self-study or a separate process. While the processes are similar across accreditors the specific standards and policies in place vary. The differences in specific standards and policies in place could create differences in the accreditor and institution relationships. This study examined the accreditor-institution relationship via Principal Agent Theory (PAT) (Lane and Kivisto, 2008). The sample for this study included three accreditor-institution pairings, featuring two different regional accreditors. Rich descriptions of three accreditor-institution relationships were described and analyzed. This study yielded implications for applying PAT to the accreditor-institution relationship. The findings also yielded recommendations for leadership at institutions and regional accreditors to improve the accreditor-institution relationship. |
