NAEAA STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE

In 2010 increased pressure in the US for standards of excellence for the accreditation and/or certification of various educational programs led the members of the NAEAA organization to engage in a series of working sessions to develop an initial list of ‘Indicators of Excellence (IOE)’ for undergraduate programs in the equine discipline.

That initial list was then used in a survey of members to gauge the level of importance of each indicator along with the ease in which respondents felt data could be gathered and used to assess success in each area. Through ongoing discussion and collaboration, NAEAA membership then identified five IOE Constructs for determining programmatic excellence. Within each construct, 1-3 instructional areas were defined with corresponding areas for learning outcomes.

The long-term goal for the work is to establish a collaborative external review process using these Indicators of Excellence. The immediate value of this work is for program development, program self-study, and use in institutionally driven external review processes.

Equine Indicators of Excellence

Construct 1 – Equine Knowledge and Skills
Construct 2 – Career and Life Skills
Construct 3 – Trajectory of Graduates
Construct 4 – Program Reputation
Construct 5 – Program Sustainability

Colleges and Universities are just now beginning the process of self-evaluation for this process. If your institution is interested in this review, please contact Karin Bump, PhD at dr.kbump@gmail.com to learn more about the logistics of the review process.

Indicators of Excellence