[Smt-talk] Accrediting agencies and CIP codes

[Bennighof, James]

Since I went to what my School-of-Music colleagues refer to as "the Dark Side"--university-level administration-I've learned a little bit about CIP codes and accrediting associations.  (I actually now assign CIP codes for new programs at Baylor, for example.)

My impression of the concern of the accrediting agencies (we also are in SACS) is that they want the institutions to have a systematic way of assessing and recording faculty members' credentials for teaching what they're teaching.  If the degree lines up with the discipline being taught, they don't need to see anything else; if it doesn't, they expect to see a rationale that demonstrates that the school has been responsible in determining that the faculty member is qualified, so this requires a bit of extra work on the administrators' part, but it's work that seems reasonable, and my impression is that if it's evident that this is being done systematically and routinely, then SACS is happy.  For this reason, when we at the administrative level approve anyone to teach anything at Baylor, we look for the appropriate degree, and if it's not there, there's a place on the recommendation form where we expect the department chair or dean to have written the explanation of why this person is qualified to teach these classes.  If that explanation makes sense, we approve the hire, and are confident that the person is qualified and that the documentation is in place for SACS to see.  I hadn't been aware that SACS looks (or sometimes looks) specifically at the CIP codes to check this out, but that makes sense.  I imagine that administrators at various schools respond to the accrediting agencies' expectations with various processes and degrees of rigor, but again it's my impression that the agencies are looking mostly to see that each school is being responsible in a systematic way, rather than closely examining every single faculty member's credentials.  Maybe one bottom line here is that if you're about to receive your Ph.D. and have no idea what the CIP code for it is at your school, don't sweat it . . .

--Jim

P.S. Pedantic note:  My understanding is that there are actually six regions and seven accrediting groups (because the Western region has separate groups for community-college-level schools and four-year schools), although this doesn't affect the substance of what Joel is saying.  (see http://www.chea.org/Directories/regional.asp)
--
James Bennighof
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Policy
One Bear Place, #97014
Baylor University
Waco, TX  76798-7014
(254) 710-6500 (office)
(254) 710-3600 (fax)



________________________________
From: Joel Galand <galandj at fiu.edu>
Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2010 12:43:44 -0600
To: <smt-talk at lists.societymusictheory.org>
Subject: Re: [Smt-talk] Princeton and Theory

Dear List:



I am quite sure we are all aware that many music departments  offer graduate studies in music theory under the general umbrella of the Ph.D. in Musicology.  As Jane points out, it is best to list the degree as it appears on the transcript.  The title and a brief description of the dissertation, a record of courses taught, letters of recommendation--all of these should be enough to demonstrate a theory specialization.



At my university, administrators are very strict about using national CIP (Classification of Instructional Program) codes to determine teaching credentials.  It seems that this is in response to accrediting agencies--most universities are accredited by one of four national agencies--also becoming fussy about this.  Our agency, SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools), has been especially strict.  We just passed our accreditation, but some better-known universities were placed on probation at about the same time, and proper credentialing was often an issue.  (I won't mention those universities here.)



Conveniently enough, a single CIP code, namely 50.0902, covers "Music History, Literature, and Theory."  If you have a doctorate in theory or history or musicology, you can teach any courses in these areas, because all of these degrees share a CIP code.   Degrees in Composition and Theory also share a (different) code.



In other areas, though, these codes have created a headache for us.  For example, at many universities, ours included, music literature courses (e.g., "Piano Lit," "Art Song Lit") are offered by the applied departments--the musicologists or historians often have nothing to do with these courses.   Because of the CIP codes, I have had, in my capacity as Academic Affairs Chair,  to write special justifications, providing "alternate credentials," so that, for example, a faculty member with a graduate degree in voice, could be allowed to continue teaching vocal literature.



Have others of you run into similar administrative snafus?



Best,



Joel



Joel Galand

Associate Professor of Music Theory
Assistant Director for Academic Affairs
School of Music
Florida International University