AOMA accredited by SACS

On Monday, December 7^th at 5:00pm, AOMA (Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin) achieved membership in SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools).

Dear AOMA Community,

Anne Province and I are here at the SACS Conference in Atlanta Georgia.  We have great news.  The Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin was granted full membership in the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

Thanks to each and every one of you for the efforts you have placed in this endeavor. It is a sign of the excellence this community brings to the table, not just in our field but in the field of higher education.  We are transforming lives and communities.

Thank you!

Will and Anne

Accreditation is a voluntary process whereby academic institutions seek recognition for meeting academic standards. AOMA maintains both programmatic and regional accreditation. Accreditation is typically conducted by private not-for-profit agencies, which receive recognition from the USDE (United States Department of Education).

For learners in the AOMA community, accreditation gives a particular sheen of quality to the degree. On a practical level, a regional accredited degree allows for transfer of credits into other university programs when appropriate. Similarly, graduates of AOMA’s master degree program may qualify to enter PhD and other doctoral programs with master degree requirements for admissions. A regionally accredited master degree also makes it possible for AOMA graduates to teach in college settings.  

Regional accreditation is AOMA’s most recent land mark accomplishment. It is a high level of quality recognition for the AOMA community including students, faculty, staff, patients, partners, alumni and board of governors. Most well-known colleges or universities participate in regional accreditation. As AOMA’s president, I sit next to presidents of schools ranging from Texas A&M to Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, Mississippi to Georgia Tech.  It is inspiring and it is a new day for the AOMA community.

 

AOMA has experience in programmatic accreditation via ACAOM (Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine) since 1996. Programmatic is a specialized accreditation for educational programs that prepare people for specific professions.  Schools of medicine, psychotherapy, chiropractic and physical therapy all have programmatic accreditors. ACAOM does this for acupuncture and Oriental medical education.

AOMA is the first single purpose school of AOM (acupuncture and Oriental medicine) to achieve regional accreditation. Other schools have accomplished regional accreditation with multiple programs. AOMA is also the first school of AOM in the SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools). Further, SACS is the last regional accreditor to recognize a school with an AOM program. We save the best for last!

Here is my official communication to the AOMA community when we discovered that we were invited to the official reception for new SACS member schools: