Accreditation cycles

An institution preparing an accreditation submission needs to know which standard applies and who owns the evidence collection. Accreditation Management Operator opens the cycle with its number, name and organization, then links the applicable standard. The owner can return to the same cycle as evidence arrives, reviewers make decisions and the approved outcome moves toward delivery.

Accreditation Cycles Workspace places the cycle status board beside the selected cycle’s working detail. The team can inspect criterion evidence, pending review decisions and state history without losing the cycle context. A recorded delivery belongs to a particular revision. Keep that revision visible when someone asks which evidence supported the outcome.

The cycle begins as Draft. Submission sends the prepared work to validation; successful validation moves it to Verified for independent review. Decided records the decision stage, while Delivered records completion of the approved delivery. Review the decision itself before interpreting a cycle’s position on the board.

• Choose the institution. Confirm the organization before attaching a standard or assigning the cycle owner. Similar standard names can belong to different institutions.
• Assign preparation. Give Accreditation Management Operator responsibility for the evidence handoff and for explaining outstanding corrections to the reviewer.
• Retain the revision. Keep the reviewed revision with its decision and delivery reference so subsequent changes remain distinguishable.

Agree a cycle naming convention that the quality team recognizes, a stable cycle number and the standard code used in institutional records. Decide when preparation is ready for submission and how the owner will explain evidence still awaiting verification. Confirm which staff can prepare work for each organization and who can independently review it.

Use the submission date consistently. A date entered during preparation should carry the meaning your team has agreed; do not use it interchangeably as a visit date or evidence observation date. Review that convention with the people who will read progress reports.

A college prepares its institutional review under the current accreditation standard. The owner links the cycle to that standard and collects evidence from departmental sources. Before submitting, Accreditation Management Operator opens the cycle and checks that each observation refers to the intended source record and the supporting documents belong to this cycle.

Accreditation Management Reviewer approves the validated revision, and its outcome is delivered. A supporting document is then corrected by the preparation team. Rehearse the correction of that executed revision and the successor’s fresh review without altering the earlier decision’s evidence. The reviewer should be able to identify the version presented for decision, and the operator should be able to explain the correction without relying on email history.

• Active accreditation cycles — Follow preparation and review across cycles that have not reached delivery.
• My accreditation cycles — Open the cycles assigned to the person preparing the work.
• Cycle status board — Compare the current stage and owner of each cycle.

Prepare and validate a cycle before reviewing and delivering its outcome. Use the implementation plan to agree the pilot handoff.