A History and Overview of Capacs Accreditation, and Accreditation in the Social and Behavioral Sciences

Dr. Michael Fleischer, CAPACS Chair, will present a brief history and overview of CAPACS, with an interactive slide-show and handouts, covering global higher education accreditation, the CAPACS accreditation process, and the benefits of Program accreditation. Particular attention will focus on the increasing demand to accredit disciplinary and professional programs in higher education as a process of external quality review, including in the social and behavioral sciences; the oversight of higher education accreditation commissions; and the creation of CAPACS in 1995, as a joint initiative of the Society for Applied Sociology (SAS) and the Sociological Practice Association (SPA), which merged in 2006, to form the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology (AACS). The presentation will highlight CAPACS accreditation standards, and the benefits of CAPACS accreditation for Program faculty, students, and alumni, their host institutions, and the public-at-large.