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Announcing (SEA)RESULTS® Distance Education Effectiveness Assessment
New assessment couples trusted accreditation standards with innovative software to provide colleges and universities insight on their online programs and a plan for improvement
Washington, DC, April 27, 2020—Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), a national accreditor of distance education institutions, and Higher Digital, the leading digital strategic advisor to higher education institutions, announced the launch of the (SEA)RESULTS® Distance Education Effectiveness Assessment.
This innovative tool couples DEAC’s trusted accreditation standards with Higher Digital’s innovative software service, (SEA)RESULTS, to provide colleges and universities with a quick and cost-effective evaluation of their online programs as well as a customized plan for improvement. In light of COVID-19, distance education has never been more prominent. This assessment will benefit both institutions planning to seek accreditation, as well as those simply looking for a quick and effective way to evaluate the effectiveness of their distance education capabilities. Using the new assessment, college and university leaders will be empowered to:
- Assess their distance education effectiveness across academic, organizational, operational, and technical dimensions, to better understand their strengths and weaknesses;
- Plan their distance education accreditation strategy using their customized (SEA)RESULTS report and an easy-to-follow road map for implementation and achieving digital transformation;
- Measure performance over time to hold staff and vendors accountable.
“Accreditation is a primary means of quality assurance for students, and it is therefore a critical investment colleges and universities must undergo,” said Leah Matthews, executive director of DEAC. “But accreditation can be costly if institutions enter the process when their educational offerings are not fully developed. The (SEA)RESULTS® Distance Education Effectiveness Assessment is a quick, easy, and cost-effective tool that can help these institutions assess and address their readiness for accreditation.”
In assessing an institution’s distance education capabilities, the (SEA)RESULTS® Distance Education Effectiveness Assessment focuses on four key categories as identified by DEAC: student/consumer protection, academic quality, technology enterprise, and long-term viability. This includes evaluating components such as the levels of transparency schools have with students and how they invest in their technology infrastructure to provide the highest quality education possible.
“Remote learning programs have increased in demand over the last decade, and they have never been more critical than they are at this moment in time,” said Wayne Bovier, co-founder and CEO of Higher Digital. “It’s through our unique partnership with DEAC that we were able to marry their expertise in education quality with our innovative (SEA)RESULTS platform to create an assessment that simplifies the process, reduces the cost, and speeds up the delivery of advice for institutions looking to improve their online learning capabilities. Knowing where you stand is the first step toward making progress – toward both your short- and long-term digital transformation goals.”
DEAC and Higher Digital first announced their collaboration at Educause in 2019 and launched the assessment today at DEAC’s Virtual Annual Business Meeting. For more information, or to take the assessment, please visit us here or contact us at info@higher.digital.
About DEAC
The Distance Education Accrediting Commission is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1926 that operates as a national accreditor of distance education institutions. DEAC’s goal is to ensure a high standard of educational quality in the distance education institutions it accredits and a quality education for the students who achieve their educational goals at its accredited institutions.
About Higher Digital
Higher Digital is a digital transformation service company that provides an innovative software service, (SEA)RESULTS®, as well as enterprise-wide consulting capabilities, that significantly lower the time and cost for higher education institution executives to assess, plan, and measure their technology strategies. Higher Digital’s corporate headquarters is located in Tysons Corner, Virginia, and the company’s European office is located in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. For more information, please visit higher.digital.