Accreditation: What It Is … and Is Not

The conceptual notion of accreditation is as specialized, complex, and diverse as is the field of hospitality management education. Before an argument can be made for or against accreditation within the professional field of hospitality management, a common understanding of accreditation must be achieved. The following article, the first of a two-part series, is intended to expand the reader's knowledge of the accreditation process. Part two will discuss its relationship to hospitality management education at the college or university level.

Accreditation: Implications For Hospitality Management Education

Accreditation was previously defined as a voluntary process in which recognition is granted to educational programs which meet or exceed established standards of educational quality. One of the inherent problems in the application of the accreditation process lies in the identification of educational quality, an elusive and subjective concept which creates the fear of the accreditation process becoming equally subjective. The author discusses this fear, along with other misconceptions regarding the implementation of accreditation in hospitality management programs at the baccalaureate level, concluding a two-part series begun in the Spring 1985 issue.