Accreditation Conversations

Our host Dr. Amy Dykens sits down with Dr. Cynthia Jackson Hammond, a passionate advocate for academic quality and institutional autonomy in higher education. Dr. Jackson Hammond is a distinguished figure in the field with her extensive work in support of institutional autonomy as president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). CHEA is the only national organization in the United States focused exclusively on higher education accreditation and quality assurance, recognizing accrediting organizations and advocating for institutions.

They discuss the federal and state legislative impact on higher education and the significance of CHEA recognition on accreditation. Dr. Jackson Hammond highlights the future of higher education and accreditation including AI, DEI, and facilitating open discussion and safe harbors.

Join as we discuss:

• The importance of institutional autonomy
• Ensuring academic quality and student success
• The significance of engagement and advocacy
• Creating dialogue to encourage innovation

Read Dr. Jackson Hammond's full bio below!

Keep connected with us by subscribing to Accreditation Conversations on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player. Check out our website here.


Dr. Cynthia Jackson Hammond became Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) President on August 1, 2020.

Dr. Jackson Hammond, Ed.D. has been a member of the higher education community for more than 30 years. Her professional career has included tenured and administrative positions in universities throughout various regions of the United States: University of Louisiana Monroe, California State University Dominguez Hills; Delaware State University; University of North Carolina Charlotte, Winston-Salem State University; and Coppin State University. Most recently, Dr. Jackson Hammond completed her tenure as president of Central State University in Ohio.

Dr. Jackson Hammond has spent the majority of her career in higher education administration, serving as a president, provost, and dean, as well as a director of TRIO programs. She has served on national boards of directors, including the Thurgood Marshall College Fund; NCAA Division II Presidents Council; the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education; and she also served on the Council for Higher Education Accreditation Board of Directors. She has appeared multiple times on Capitol Hill, including providing testimony on the status of 1890 Land-Grant institutions.

She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Grambling State University, her Master’s degree in Education and an Education Specialist degree from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, and her Doctorate in Education in dual cognate areas, curriculum and instruction and student personnel services from Grambling State University.

Dr. Jackson Hammond serves on the Fulbright Council for International Exchange Scholars (CIES) Advisory Board, the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) Council for Student Success, and as an AGB Commissioner for Higher Education Strategic Assets. Dr. Jackson Hammond also was appointed as a Commissioner for the Biden Administration’s Presidential Scholars program.

Dr. Jackson Hammond is a sought-after thought leader on accreditation, multicultural diversity, and inclusion. Her academic discipline is Education and Higher Education Administration. She is an ardent advocate for quality assurance and transparency in higher education and is committed to the advancement of higher education success, equity, and integrity in higher education.

We talk with Dr. David Eubanks, the assistant vice president at Furman University about the world of assessment, accreditation, and the pursuit of meaningful data in education. In his 20 year journey, David shares his realization that the standard accreditation formula for providing student learning assessment data was not working for him, leading to a realization it was not working for many others as well. He became a peer reviewer himself and embarked on a decade-long quest to find a solution that would bridge the gap between theory and practice.

Get ready for a thought-provoking episode advocating for new approaches to traditional methods and paving the way for innovation in assessment and accreditation.

Join us as we discuss the:

• Complexities of assessment in education
• Limitations of data analysis
• Importance of engagement and holistic problem-solving

Read Dr. Eubank's full bio below!

Keep connected with us by subscribing to Accreditation Conversations on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player. Check out our website here.

General education is a gateway to identity and becoming, a pathway to self-discovery and growth for students. However, gen ed courses have more frequently been viewed as checkboxes to quickly complete. But those who are passionate about and understand the long-term investment of gen ed, developing students into graduates who contribute back by going and making a difference in the world, are recommitting - working, partnering, and coming together.

Reforming gen ed to ensure students can see themselves in the curriculum and incorporating it into minor studies provides meaningful, transformative, life changing experiences. Dr. Stephen Biscotte, president of AGLS and assistant provost for undergraduate education at Virginia Tech, speaks with us about the importance of gen ed, its reform, and the impact it has on the educated future of our nation.

Join us as we discuss:

• Transforming understanding of gen ed and accreditation
• Delivering on what’s important for students
• Finding passions and embracing transformation

Usually, when we think of education and accreditation, the stakes aren’t life and death.

But when it comes to paramedics, proper knowledge and training can mean the difference between a close call and a tragedy.

In this episode, we speak with Dr. George Hatch, Executive Director of the Committee on Accreditation for the EMS professions (CoAEMSP), about the fascinating story behind — and what the future holds for — the accreditation that’s helping save lives everyday.

Join us as we discuss:

• A unique accreditor structure
• Transitioning from practitioner to accreditor
• Improving relationships as an accreditor
• The ROI from involving stakeholders

See Dr. Hatch’s full bio below!

Keep connected with us by subscribing to Accreditation Conversations on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player. Check out our website here.


Dr. Hatch, a 45 year EMS veteran provider and professional educator, is the Executive Director of the largest Committee on Accreditation in the Commission on the Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) system with nearly 800 Paramedic programs in the nation and internationally. Providing oversight to the largest Board of Directors that represent the EMS profession (12 Sponsors), he was called upon to help manage the crisis of keeping the “educational pipeline” open and functioning throughout the COVID-19 crisis while supporting the accredited EMS education programs in the United States.

Serving in one of the largest community colleges in the country and responsible for educating the 3rd largest fire department in his role as Department Chairman and Program Director for over 2 decades, he’s learned a few lessons about what works in education. He holds an Educational Doctorate with a concentration in Curriculum-Instruction and Teaching from the University of Houston and is the recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Houston College Of Education.

Always called to a life of helping others, Dr. Vince Erario, Director of Institutional Effectiveness, Planning and Research at Life University, accidentally found himself in education. Kicking off his career with nearly three decades of service as a chiropractor, Vince dipped his toes in politics, quality assurance and clinical work.

On this episode, Vince joins us to discuss his non-traditional path into accreditation and his lifelong journey of learning and helping others.

Join us as we discuss how:

• Varying backgrounds of assessment and accreditation leaders contribute to the profession
• Assessment and accreditation leaders partner together to best tell the institution’s story
• Experiences from being a peer reviewer inform one’s approach to this work

Keep connected with us by subscribing to Accreditation Conversations on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player. Check out our website here.

From psychology professor to president of SACSCOC, join us for this episode with Dr. Belle Wheelan. In sharing her journey, you can hear her passion and commitment, her heart, for higher education and accreditation. Dr. Wheelan talks about topics from what makes a great peer reviewer to politics in higher education. She shares how the two work together to help institutions improve through innovation.

Growing up in a racial and gender revolution, Dr. Wheelan provides guidance on how to support women in the profession, as well as how programmatic accreditation leaders can support their team, organization, and institutional members. From hearing about her favorite novels to The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) Top Strategic Issues for Boards, come to learn from a thought leader of accreditation.

Join us as we discuss:

• The hardest parts of being involved in accreditation
• Providing impactful mentorship and guidance
• Peer evaluation as the hallmark of higher education accreditation
• The power of continuous dialogue between accreditors and institutions
• Leading programmatic accreditation organizations

See Dr. Belle Wheelan’s full bio below!

Keep connected with us by subscribing to Accreditation Conversations on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player. Check out our website here.

In Dr. Heather Perfetti’s own words, accreditation, first and foremost, is really about doing the good work at institutions and doing it well. And we should be celebrating that through accreditation!

In this episode, Dr. Heather Perfetti, President at Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), joins the show to discuss her unique role. We dive deep into the value of the accreditation process and how impactful it can really be for the student experience, as well as touch on the taboo subject of myths that are perpetuated within the accreditation community and why we should be busting them!

Join us as we discuss:

• Mythbusting around accreditation
• What the Middle States Commission on Higher Education does
• Revising standards of accreditation to keep our process up to date

See Dr. Heather Perfetti’s full bio below!

Dr. Heather F. Perfetti, President
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
An experienced, high-level executive with a demonstrated and diverse history of working in complex educational environments, Heather F. Perfetti, Ed.D., J.D., became President of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education on July 1, 2020. Over the course of her career, she has made an impact in numerous areas of higher education, including academic and student affairs, faculty affairs, legal and regulatory affairs, strategic planning, policy development, and innovative, organizational change management. She joined the Commission as a Vice President liaison to institutions in January 2015, served as Vice President for Legal Affairs and Chief of Staff in July 2017, and was then elevated to Senior Vice President in July 2018. On June 26, 2019, Dr. Perfetti was named President-Elect to begin her transition to President. Dr. Perfetti earned her Doctor of Education degree with specialization in Higher Education Leadership from Northcentral University (CA), the Juris Doctor degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law, the Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Troy University (AL), and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Frostburg State University (MD).

Keep connected with us by subscribing to Accreditation Conversations on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player. Check out our website here.