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Accreditation
Institutional Accreditation
The Virginia Military Institute is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award baccalaureate degrees. Degree-granting institutions also may offer credentials such as certificates and diplomas at approved degree levels.
Questions about the accreditation of Virginia Military Institute may be directed in writing to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097, by calling 404-679-4500, or by using information available on SACSCOC’s website (sacscoc.org).
Program Accreditation
The Economics and Business program is accredited by the Association for the Advancement of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International.
The Civil Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org, under the commission's General Criteria and the Program Criteria for Civil and Similarly Named Engineering Programs.
The Electrical and Computer Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org, under the commission's General Criteria and the Program Criteria for Computer Engineering, Electrical, and Electronics Engineering and Similarly Named Engineering Programs.
The Mechanical Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org, under the commission's General Criteria and the Program Criteria for Mechanical and Similarly Named Engineering Programs.
The Chemistry program is approved by the American Chemical Society.
SACSCOC
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) is the recognized regional accrediting body in the Southern states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia) and in Latin America for those institutions of higher education that award associate, baccalaureate, master's or doctoral degrees. The Commission on Colleges' Board of Trustees is the representative body of the College Delegate Assembly and is charged with carrying out the accreditation process.
To gain or maintain accreditation with the Commission on Colleges, an institution must comply with the standards contained in the Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement and with the policies and procedures of the Commission on Colleges. The Commission on Colleges applies the requirements of its Principles to all applicant, candidate, and member institutions, regardless of type of institution (public, private for-profit, private not-for-profit).
Reaffirmation Process
Accreditation in the United States is a voluntary and self-regulatory mechanism of the higher education community. It plays a significant role in fostering public confidence in the educational enterprise, maintaining standards, enhancing institutional effectiveness, and improving higher education by establishing a common set of requirements with which accredited institutions must comply.
Accreditation by SACSCOC signifies that the institution (1) has a mission appropriate to higher education, (2) has resources, programs, and services sufficient to accomplish and sustain that mission, and (3) maintains clearly specified educational objectives that are consistent with its mission and appropriate to the degrees it offers and that indicate whether it is successful in achieving its stated objectives. More information about the reaffirmation process can be found on the SACSCOC website.
Reaffirmation Timeline
Reaffirmation of accreditation occurs every 10 years at SACSCOC member institutions. VMI was last accredited in 2017. VMI’s next reaffirmation will occur in 2027. In between comprehensive decennial reviews, SACSCOC requires institutions to submit an interim report. VMI’s 5th Year Report is due September 15, 2022. A significant component of the 5th Year Report is the Impact Report on the Quality Enhancement Plan.
Quality Enhancement Plan
The concept of quality enhancement is at the heart of the SACSCOC philosophy of accreditation, and each institution that seeks reaffirmation of accreditation is required to develop a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). VMI’s QEP, Math that Matters: Contextualizing Mathematics in a Computational World, was approved by SACSCOC in 2017.
Math that Matters is focused on preparing graduates to succeed in a world where rapidly changing technology is transforming how individuals relate to and function within their environment, the Institute considers it a priority to ensure that all cadets become literate in the language of math and computational technology and its application in solving real-world problems. Most STEM majors at VMI are exposed to programming and mathematical problem-solving through the course work in their curriculum, but approximately 50-60 percent of cadets could benefit significantly from additional course work in these areas. Therefore, this initiative focuses on improving the common core math requirement by developing a new, two-course math sequence that will include technology-driven mathematical topics and basic computational skills.
This innovative curriculum emphasizes the contextualization of mathematics within a cadet’s discipline by incorporating contemporary pedagogical methods (e.g., problem-based learning) and modern problem-solving tools into one powerful educational package. This new pedagogical paradigm will better prepare VMI graduates to: (a) think critically and solve complex problems within their disciplines that require significant computational, data analytic, and critical thinking skills, (b) better understand the nuances of how technology informs and affects interactions with the environment, and (c) better negotiate the technological-mathematical terrain that pervades the modern world.
Stated simply, the idea is to have cadets, particularly non-STEM majors, engage with math in ways that are meaningful and useful for solving domain-specific problems using computers. Problem-based projects are designed and used to apply mathematical skills to realistic math problems, including statistics and modeling. In addition, basic computational thinking skills are developed using software, like Microsoft Excel, in order to teach cadets to solve the problems and understand the capacity and the limitations of both the model and technology. These projects are developed through collaborations between the Applied Mathematics Department and other departments whose cadets are required to take this new math core sequence.