MAS receives Letter of Commendation and Continuance.
Metro Atlanta Seminary re-accredited for 10 years.
The COA voted on September 7th to approve a letter of Commendation and Continuance to Metro Atlanta Seminary. The accreditation period will be good for 10 years. Thad James, chair of the site-visit committee, reported that members of the site-visit team were satisfied in MAS’s responses in resolving the 11 notations issued to them on April 29th, 2023.
Background on this decision
At its regularly stated meeting on February 10th, 2023, the COA reviewed a letter of notation to Metro Atlanta Seminary (MAS) in response to their 5-year reaccreditation visit, subsequent follow up report, and an MAS response to the report. (More information about site-visit reports and process is found in this blog post.) The reaccreditation site-visit was conducted in July of 2022.
The Letter of Notation documenting discrepancies is based on a two-thirds decision of the ARTS-COA. In the case of MAS, the newly revised ARTS-COA rubric for assessing compliance with standards was employed. Our rubric specifies that institutions must fully meet all the criteria for sub-standards in order to be in compliance with the full standard. Institutions receiving a letter of notation remain full members, but are expected to respond to the letter within 60 days, and resolve all issues noted within 12 months after the date of the notation. (Policies and Procedures, Section 1.d.iii)
Accordingly the COA is seeking from MAS further details regarding a curriculum overview showing a plan for resolution for standards 2.4, 3.5, 5.2, 5.3, 6 and 10.5. We mention these items to be in compliance with ARTS-COA Policies and Procedures, Section 4.a.ii.
While further clarification is being sought on the above items, the COA also commended MAS for the many other improvements which MAS has implemented as a result of the site-visit report.