UNC Charlotte is applying to join the Commission for Public Higher Education, making it the first UNC System school to publicly get on board with the effort by several states to start a new accrediting agency.
Chancellor Sharon Gaber on October 14 sent a letter to Dan Harrison, the UNC System vice president for academic affairs who is now North Carolina’s top official on the CPHE initiative, informing him of the university’s “intention to seek accreditation” from the new agency. She announced the development to campus on October 23.
“This first step begins a multi-year process to better understand CPHE’s structure, standards and long-term implications for the University,” Gaber and Provost Jennifer Troyer wrote in the letter to campus.
The Niner Times, UNC Charlotte’s student newspaper, first reported the news.
The move makes UNC Charlotte one in an initial cohort of 10 schools expected to begin pursuing accreditation through the agency this fall, a process described on CPHE’s website. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported last month that the Texas A&M University campuses at Kingsville and Texarkana and Florida Atlantic University will also be included in the cohort.
The agency, which was formally announced in June and had been guided by the UNC System for more than a year prior to that, so far also includes public universities and systems in Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Louisiana.
UNC Charlotte deputy chief communications officer Christy Jackson wrote to The Assembly that the university chose to pursue CPHE early on to help shape its development.
“Getting involved early allows us to learn, offer perspective and help build a model that could better serve public institutions like ours in the future,” Jackson wrote.
In her letter to Harrison, which the university provided to The Assembly upon request, Gaber outlined “several potential benefits” that CPHE offers, including its niche focus on public universities and its promise to streamline the accreditation process—points that UNC System President Peter Hans has also emphasized.
Gaber also said the agency’s development of its accreditation standards—which included receiving feedback from stakeholders and making changes in the final version, like renaming a standard on “viewpoint diversity” to “intellectual diversity” after pushback—was a sign that the organization is “open to input and is focused on building an accrediting body that will endure.”
But Gaber also said there are “several unknowns that exist that could potentially limit our ability to proceed with CPHE accreditation.” She said the university wants a “collaborative approach” and “leadership from personnel who deeply understand the needs of UNC System universities, including commitments to academic freedom and shared governance.”
Gaber also referred to CPHE’s intent to be an “apolitical” accreditor as “critical,” noting that UNC Charlotte and other public universities are required to remain neutral on political issues.
UNC Charlotte and other universities that seek accreditation from CPHE will remain accredited by their current agencies during the process, and the new agency doesn’t plan to charge application or membership fees until it is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education—something not expected for another two years at the least.
UNC Charlotte’s next reaffirmation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) is set for 2033, with a mid-cycle review in 2029. The same staff who manage the university’s accreditation process with SACSCOC will work with CPHE, per Jackson.
“We’ll continue to assess whether CPHE’s model aligns with the quality and standards we expect from an accreditor,” Jackson wrote. “When the time comes, UNC Charlotte will make a decision about whether to pursue full accreditation.”
UNC System schools are no longer required to switch accreditors every cycle, as was the case under a 2023 state law. Lawmakers repealed that requirement as part of a spending bill signed by Gov. Josh Stein in September. The change also added CPHE to a list of “preferred” agencies from which public universities should seek accreditation, which also includes SACSCOC and other regional accreditors.
CPHE is currently seeking peer reviewers who will evaluate the colleges initially seeking accreditation from the agency.