Moon Township, Pa., July 16, 2008 – The School of Education and Social Sciences at Robert Morris University (RMU) has been accredited by the Teacher Education Accreditation Council, one of only approximately 60 institutions nationwide that has received the organization’s accreditation.
The accreditation is the culmination of a rigorous four-year process in which RMU’s education and teacher training programs were evaluated largely on the quality of instruction and student learning. RMU is the first education school in Pennsylvania to be accredited by the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC), one of two national education school accreditation agencies.
TEAC granted RMU the agency’s maximum initial accreditation of five years.
“The faculty and staff of the School of Education and Social Sciences are to be commended for this outstanding achievement,” said RMU President Gregory G. Dell’Omo. “This accreditation is a benchmark of RMU’s academic quality and its commitment to student-centered instruction.”
RMU’s five-year strategic plan, which was crafted in 2007, calls for the University to seek and maintain discipline-specific accreditations for its academic programs. The University’s engineering, computer science and nursing programs have been accredited, and RMU is in the final stages of accreditation for its School of Business. As an institution, RMU is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Accreditations are significant because they represent third-party validation of the University’s instructional programs.
“This accreditation is an important national recognition of the quality of our faculty and the programs they offer. Our elementary education and business education degrees and secondary education certifications were all created to prepare teachers for the classroom challenges of the 21st century, and TEAC accreditation reflects their excellence,” said RMU Provost David Jamison.
Approximately 700 students are enrolled in the School of Education and Social Sciences, and about 500 of them are pursuing an education degree or teaching certification. The school offers degree programs in elementary and business education, as well as certification programs in biology, communication, English, mathematics, social studies, and instructional technology specialist. The school also offers majors in social science and applied psychology.
John Graham, dean of the school and a professor of education, noted that, among other things, the accreditation process demanded intense assessment of program quality by nationally recognized experts and peers from other TEAC-accredited institutions.
“These are professionals from very prestigious universities, and they are evaluating whether RMU faculty provided sufficient evidence to support their case for becoming nationally accredited. This means a lot for our students, who can say they’ve graduated from a high quality, accredited institution,” said Graham.