THE NALP EXPERIENCE
Four Colleges Renew Their Accredited Degree Program By Jill Odom
Accredited schools can also afford to bring more students to attend industry events such as the National Collegiate Landscape Competition, thanks to discounts. Photo: Cuyahoga Community College
IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY, Cuyahoga Community College, Joliet Junior College and Brigham Young University – Idaho have all renewed their Accredited Degree Program status and are now accredited through 2026. The National Association of Landscape Professionals Accredited Degree Program is the only nationally recognized endorsement offered to colleges and universities that confer associate’s or bachelor’s degrees in landscape management. It currently accredits 27 2- and 4-year landscape programs in the United States and Canada. Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) received its initial accreditation in 1996, from the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA), a legacy organization of NALP. “The stringent accreditation process allows the college to measure its program against industry best practices and ensures the high quality of instruction offered students,” says Jim Funai, Ph.D., an associate professor with Tri-C. “Seeking the accreditation shows a commitment to providing an education that meets the highest standards in the field.” Joliet Junior College (JJC) first became accredited in 2004. Lisa Perkins, a professor with JJC, says they decided the accreditation program was a good opportunity to ensure program profes-
The accreditation process focuses on a set of course-level student learning outcomes. Photo: Cuyahoga Community College sionalism and make sure students are meeting the needs the industry is looking for in new graduates. Grant Thompson, Ph.D., an assistant professor at Iowa State University, says the college received its accreditation in 2010. He says they value the perspective of NALP to indicate what knowledge and competency areas are valued among industry professionals. “Accreditation is another way of keeping our promise to our students and their families that their tuition and hardwork towards earning a degree is worth it and that they should study with us,” Thompson says. BYU – Idaho earned its accreditation in 2003. Reese Nelson, Ph.D., professor of horticulture at BYU – Idaho says the motivation for becoming accredited was to put their program under the microscope and see where they could improve. INSIDE THE ACCREDITATION PROCESS Accreditation is a voluntary, peer review process that is conducted by representatives of the higher education community and the landscape industry. It is a process that involves the development of a self-evaluation review as well as a peer assessment with the purpose of improving academic quality and accountability to the public. The institution as well as the specific program is reviewed in the process. The
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administration, staff, faculty, students, advisory committee and alumni are asked to provide input into the process. All aspects of a higher education landscape program are reviewed with the primary aim of ensuring students receive a quality education that will enable them to be successful in their careers. “It does take some time to pull together the documents, the outcomes and assessments that are necessary and you have to write a self-study,” Nelson says. “But again, all those things will just make your program better in the long run.” “It’s a difficult process but provides needed input from the industry that makes sure the program is not stagnating,” Perkins says. Because landscape programs and institutions vary greatly the accreditation standards and process are designed to accommodate this diversity and ensure the quality of student learning. Rather than a standardized curriculum, accreditation focuses on a set of course-level student learning outcomes that have been developed and approved by the industry. The student learning outcomes are distributed among seven competency areas of learning – Landscape Management, Landscape Installation, Landscape Design, Horticulture Science, Business Management, Computer Technology, and Internship. Currently there are 159
