SACS CASI History

Founded in 1895, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI) is a non-profit, voluntary, non-governmental association, and one of six regional accrediting associations in the United States. SACS CASI serves 11 Southern states -- Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia as well as Latin America and other geographical areas. SACS CASI accredits over 13,000 Pre-Kindergarten, K-12, and vocational schools.

SACS CASI, in the business of accrediting public and private schools for over 100 years, holds its primary mission as the improvement of education by recognizing and encouraging institutional quality through accreditation.

Origin, History, and Purposes of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools has as its central purpose the improvement of education in the South and other geographical areas through the process of accreditation. Accreditation is a nongovernmental and voluntary process of evaluation concerned with improving educational quality and assuring the public that member institutions meet established standards.

As one of six regional associations in the United States, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, founded in 1895, accredits colleges and schools in the 11 Southern states -- Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia -- and in Mexico, Central and South America, the islands of the Caribbean and other geographical areas. Currently, the membership includes more than 14,000 public and private institutions enrolling more than 15 million students in universities, senior colleges, two-year colleges, high schools, vocational-technical institutions, middle schools, elementary schools, and early childhood centers and kindergartens.

The Accreditation Process Accreditation is a process for institutional improvement through a systematic program of evaluation and the application of educational standards or criteria. Accreditation means not only that an institution meets prescribed standards, but also that the institution demonstrates a commitment to providing quality educational programs and engaging in continuous improvement.

Regional accreditation is comprehensive: it evaluates the entire institution, not just certain programs. Member colleges and schools undertake exhaustive self-studies involving the participation of faculty, administrators, staff, students, and governing board members. A committee of peer evaluators, comprised of professional educators who have volunteered to serve on the committee, visits an institution to assess its compliance with stated standards, to examine the school's efforts to continuously improve, to review the acceptability of its self-study, and to make recommendations based on the committee's evaluation. Institutional personnel respond to recommendations stated in the visiting committee report and design short-term and long-range plans for improvement based on the recommendations.

Accreditation is not a permanent status. Membership in a Commission of the Southern Association depends on continuing improvement demonstrated through a regular cycle of annual reports, interim reviews, and periodic evaluations.

Organization The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools consists of three commissions: the Commission on Elementary and Middle Schools (founded in 1965), the Commission on Secondary and Middle Schools (founded in 1912), and the Commission on Colleges (founded in 1919). In 2004, the Commissions on Elementary, Middle, and Secondary Schools joined to form the Council on Accreditation and School Improvement to create a single infrastructure under which to operate. The Commission on Colleges and the Council on Accreditation and School Improvement carry out the function of accreditation through the development and application of standards, procedures, and processes.

Each member institution has one vote in the delegate assembly of its Commission. The assemblies, which meet annually, set standards and approve criteria for the evaluation and accreditation of their respective institutions. In addition, each member institution has one vote during its Commission's annual business meeting.

An elected president and Board of Trustees establish policy to govern the Association according to published bylaws agreed on by the membership. The Board consists of representatives from each of the three commissions as well as individuals representing the public.

Policies of the Board and the Commissions are administered by a staff with an office in Decatur, Georgia. The staff coordinates the efforts of educators and public representatives who give thousands of volunteer hours each year to make regional accreditation a successful and effective process for improving educational institutions.

The Association is financed by annual membership dues. The dues vary according to guidelines set by each commission.

Origin The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools originated as the result of a resolution developed by Vanderbilt University faculty members. This statement led to an historic meeting of representatives from six Southern colleges and universities, which convened in Atlanta on November 6, 1895. Purposes of the meeting, as stated, were:

On this basis an organization was formed, and a constitution and bylaws were adopted. Charter member institutions were: Vanderbilt University, University of North Carolina, University of the South, University of Mississippi, Washington and Lee University, and Trinity College (Duke University).

Chancellor J.H. Kirkland was the first secretary and treasurer and served in this capacity until 1908. Professor Frederick W. Moore became secretary/treasurer in 1908, and served until his death in 1911. The office was subsequently filled by the following:

Bert E. Young	1911-1915
Walter A. Bechtel	1917-1921
Theodore H. Jack	1923-1926
Guy E. Snavely	1926-1937
Shelton Phelps	1937-1943
J.R. Robinson	1943-1946
Albert J. Geiger	1946-1965

Incorporation of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools as a nonprofit corporation without capital stock was authorized by official delegates at the annual business session of the Association on November 29, 1962, in Dallas, Texas. The Charter of Incorporation was granted by the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia, on June 20, 1963, and established under permanent duration on March 27, 1998. A continuation of the tax exemption of the Association under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 was granted by letter dated September 30, 1963, reaffirmed on August 29, 1973, October 1985, and most recently in February 2000.

Under the constitution adopted in 1962, the executive director became the principal administrator of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Holding this position, in order of appointment, have been:

Bylaws adopted in 1992 stated that the executive directors of the Commissions would become the Association's chief administrative officer (CAO), a position that rotates among the executive directors of the three commissions. Dr. John M. Davis was named chief administrative officer for the Association and chair of the Administrative Council in 1992. CAOs since then have been Dr. James H. Stiltner (1994, 1996, 1999), Dr. James T. Rogers (1995, 1998, 2001, 2003), Dr. Stephen M. Baker (1997, 2000, 2002) and Dr. Mark A. Elgart (2004).

Organization of the SACS Council on Accreditation and School Improvement The Council on Accreditation and School Improvement was created on March 7, 2004, by the Executive Councils of the Commissions on Elementary, Middle, and Secondary Schools. The Commissions established the Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (CASI) to provide an accreditation and school improvement infrastructure for institutions ranging from early childhood to the secondary level including public, non-public, special purpose, vocational-technical, and American or international schools abroad. As such, the Executive Councils adopted policies and procedures to govern the Council on Accreditation and School Improvement under the leadership of a newly formed Board of Directors. The mission of the Council on Accreditation and School Improvement is help schools and school systems improve student learning through accreditation.

Commission on Elementary and Middle Schools
The Commission on Elementary Schools was created on December 1, 1965, by the Association at its Annual Meeting in Richmond, Virginia. The name of the Commission was changed to the Commission on Elementary and Middle Schools in 1994.

Commission on Secondary and Middle Schools
The Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools of the Southern States created the Commission on Secondary Schools in annual session at Tuscaloosa, Alabama in November 1911. It was organized at Nashville, Tennessee, in April 1912, with Joseph Stewart, chairman, and Burt E. Young, secretary. Its first annual meeting was at Spartanburg, South Carolina, November 1912.

In April 2006, SACS CASI, the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), and National Study of School Evaluation (NSSE) came together to form one strong unified organization dedicated to education quality. That unified organization, known as AdvancED, creates the world's largest education community, representing over 23,000 public and private schools, 6,000 school districts, 18,000 volunteers in 30 states and 65 countries and serving nearly 15 million students. Learn more about our organizational history.