Accreditation from the Practitioner Perspective

Sylvia de Haas-Phillips MS, MSW
Director, MS Nonprofit Management & Philanthropy
MS Strategic Fundraising & Philanthropy

Students I talk to and teach on a daily basis are pursuing a graduate degree in Nonprofit Management or Strategic Fundraising because they want to advance their career or transition into the field. This may seem obvious but is it? To me it is an important consideration as we look at how to prepare students for their future in the sector. What goals do we have guiding our respective graduate degree programs? Is it to prepare students to lead nonprofit organizations and/or become senior philanthropic professionals? Is it to prepare researchers or academic scholars to contribute to the field? Is our goal to strengthen the governance and leadership of the nonprofit sector itself? These and other questions impact what might or might not be the value-added of a formal accreditation process through any governing body including the National Academic Centers Council (NACC). As a relatively new member of the academic community with over 30 years of industry experience as a funder, nonprofit leader, and governance and strategy adviser I offer a perspective built on practical experience utilizing best practices in leading nonprofit organizations and as well as a focus on building the capacity of the nonprofit sector. 

For over a decade, our graduate program has focused on taking theory to practice and providing an applied learning environment for students. Nine student learning outcomes guide curriculum development and assessment. Students embark on their own personal journey to assess their learning outcomes and develop a portfolio of their work that is used, often in pursuing a career opportunity, to demonstrate mastery of a specific aspect of nonprofit leadership and management. We are focused on developing new leaders and providing them a set of tools that can be applied in real-life settings. Our goal is to educate the next generation of leaders with the ultimate goal of building the capacity of the nonprofit sector and the people within them to think strategically and positively impact social change.

How we measure this goal is the conversation at hand and one in which components of the proposed NACC accreditation/certification process may add value. Similar to all universities we work with a number of accrediting bodies that have oversight and input into curriculum, courses, etc. Program success is focused on a clear set of objectives against which all the core and elective courses are measured and we provide direct and indirect evidence to demonstrate mastery. We are currently in the process of reporting on the nine learning objectives guiding our two graduate degree programs and the opportunity to look deeper into the proposed accreditation process offers timely information.