The María Cano University Foundation is preparing in 2022 to receive high-quality accreditation visits for the following programs: Physiotherapy at the Popayán campus from March 29 to 31, Psychology at the Medellín campus from April 19 to 21, Physiotherapy at the Neiva campus from April 26 to 28 and Physiotherapy at the Cali campus from May 11 to 13, all members of the university community prepare to receive the CNA peers.

Accreditation is the highest recognition of quality that the State makes of an academic program. It occurs after a demanding evaluation process carried out by academic peers, and to which only institutions and programs that consider they have the conditions to receive, train and graduate the best professionals in a career voluntarily submit. The vast majority of academic programs in the country (80%) have a basic authorization, or qualified registration, to operate legally. High-quality accreditation has only been obtained by about 20% of programs, given the trust in society generated by its organization, curricular development, and related services.

High quality: In the higher education system, it is understood as the coherence that an educational program demonstrates between its purposes, operating conditions and results (teaching, research and extension, among others), reflected in the training of students. When a program is accredited, it means that it fully responds to a set of indicators that the CNA National Accreditation Council defines for all programs that seek high quality. High quality is the ability of an academic program to demonstrate that it says what it does, does what it says, tests it and improves it, and for this it has everything clearly documented, puts policies, procedures, evaluations into practice, and listens to professors , students, graduates, employers and managers.

The protagonists are:

• The academic programs of higher education institutions that undergo evaluation to be accredited. This includes students, teachers, graduates, the productive sector, researchers and management support staff.
• The Colombian State, through the Ministry of National Education, which is the highest educational authority, and the CNA, an entity made up of professionals with very high academic qualifications, who evaluate the programs and recommend their accreditation to the Ministry.

What is evaluated in the CNA visit:

• The mission and the Institutional Project and the program
• The conditions, participation and projections of students and teachers
• The nature of academic processes
• The national and international visibility of the program
• Research, innovation, artistic and cultural creation
• Institutional welfare
• The organization, administration and management of the institution and the program
• Graduates and their impact on the environment.
• The physical and financial resources at the service of the program

The stages of the accreditation process:

1. Self-assessment: It is the internal exercise carried out by the program on its level of success with respect to the indicators that the CNA asks to comply with.
2. The External Evaluation or Peer Evaluation: It is done by academics who visit the Institution and evaluate if there is consistency between the self-evaluation that the program delivered and the reality of the expected quality. They are professors from other universities who verify in the program facilities that the conditions are met and speak with the academic community. Based on the CNA guidelines, they identify strengths and weaknesses of the program.
3. The CNA Report: Corresponds to the Final Evaluation carried out by the CNA based on the peer report. If this is positive, the Ministry of Education grants the accreditation for a few years, because as the accreditation recognizes the program’s commitment to continuous improvement, the process must be renewed.

The benefits for students and teachers with the accreditation:

• The Government gives more options for scholarships and financing to students of accredited programs
• The labor market prefers graduates of accredited programs
• Greater possibilities to carry out double degrees and international internships, and exchanges with highly prestigious universities.
• More options, with greater possibility, when applying to international scholarships
• Teachers and researchers have a greater scenario of professional development

This is how we invite you to commit to the accreditation process of the programs that will receive the visit of the CNA in this first semester of 2022, talk to your professors, classmates, attend the calls and represent the institutional commitment to quality.

Learn more about accreditation here

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