Location
Cheatham 212
Event Website
http://www.cpe.vt.edu/cuenr/index.html
Start Date
3-27-2010 9:30 AM
End Date
3-27-2010 10:00 AM
Description
Recognizing the growth of the urban forestry profession and realizing that the accreditation standards for general forestry education were an inadequate measure of urban forestry curricula, the SAF Council charged its Educational Policy Review Committee in 2005 to develop specialized urban forestry accreditation standards. The review committee, augmented by additional members with urban forestry expertise, presented its accreditation recommendations to the SAF Council in December 2006. Following public review, the SAF Council approved the Standards for Specialized Accreditation of Educational Programs in Urban Forestry in June 2007 and incorporated the standards into the SAF Accreditation Handbook in August 2007. SAF administers the urban forestry specialized accreditation using its existing procedures for accreditation application, review, and appeal. An urban forestry program seeking accreditation must first be recognized by SAF as an accreditation candidate. This status provides the program with a period of no more than five years to organize its operations and modify its urban forestry curriculum to meet SAF accreditation standards. Before the candidate status period expires, the program must submit a formal letter of application and commence the accreditation review. The review entails a comprehensive self‐evaluation of the urban forestry program along with an on‐site assessment by an SAF‐appointed external review team. The self‐evaluation consists of a written report that documents how the program meets accreditation standards. Virginia Tech proceeded with SAF review for the specialized urban forestry accreditation in July 2008. At the annual SAF meeting in Reno, Nevada in November 2008, SAF granted Virginia Tech the specialized urban forestry accreditation, making it the first program in the nation to receive the new accreditation. This presentation will summarize the process of SAF specialized accreditation in urban forestry using Virginia Tech as a case study and will discuss the potential benefits of accreditation for urban forestry academic programs.
Included in
SAF Specialized Accreditation for Urban Forestry Programs: A Case Study at Virginia Tech
Cheatham 212
Recognizing the growth of the urban forestry profession and realizing that the accreditation standards for general forestry education were an inadequate measure of urban forestry curricula, the SAF Council charged its Educational Policy Review Committee in 2005 to develop specialized urban forestry accreditation standards. The review committee, augmented by additional members with urban forestry expertise, presented its accreditation recommendations to the SAF Council in December 2006. Following public review, the SAF Council approved the Standards for Specialized Accreditation of Educational Programs in Urban Forestry in June 2007 and incorporated the standards into the SAF Accreditation Handbook in August 2007. SAF administers the urban forestry specialized accreditation using its existing procedures for accreditation application, review, and appeal. An urban forestry program seeking accreditation must first be recognized by SAF as an accreditation candidate. This status provides the program with a period of no more than five years to organize its operations and modify its urban forestry curriculum to meet SAF accreditation standards. Before the candidate status period expires, the program must submit a formal letter of application and commence the accreditation review. The review entails a comprehensive self‐evaluation of the urban forestry program along with an on‐site assessment by an SAF‐appointed external review team. The self‐evaluation consists of a written report that documents how the program meets accreditation standards. Virginia Tech proceeded with SAF review for the specialized urban forestry accreditation in July 2008. At the annual SAF meeting in Reno, Nevada in November 2008, SAF granted Virginia Tech the specialized urban forestry accreditation, making it the first program in the nation to receive the new accreditation. This presentation will summarize the process of SAF specialized accreditation in urban forestry using Virginia Tech as a case study and will discuss the potential benefits of accreditation for urban forestry academic programs.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cuenr/Sessions/Cirricula/1
Comments
Citation: Wiseman, E. 2010. SAF specialized accreditation for urban forestry programs: a case study at Virginia Tech. UENR Biennial Conference, Session Curricula and Assessment, Paper Number 1. http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cuenr/Sessions/Cirricula/1/