Fifth-Year Interim Review Committee Member Information

Thank you for agreeing to serve as a member of the Fifth-Year Interim Review Committee. This site contains materials to help you prepare for the work ahead and useful resources that will assist you as you begin your reviews. Before reading any further, make this webpage one of your Favorites, so that you can quickly and easily refer back to it when needed.

Key Dates for Committee Members

By this dateYou Should:
September 2-8Orientation Session with Cluster Coordinators.
September 9-17Orientation Sessions with Committee Members.
September 18-25
Initial Conference Calls Completed: Cluster Coordinators with Committee Members.
September 26Committee Members Receive access to Fifth-Year Interim Reports
September 27-October 26Review of Institutional Cases
Round 1: September 27 – October 9
Round 2: October 10 – October 22
Round 3: October 23 – October 26
*clusters should meet (virtually) near the end of each case review period to discuss findings
October 27 – November 3Cluster Coordinators review/edit Reports for each case
November 4 – 7
Cluster 1-2: November 4-5
Cluster 3: November 6-7
Fifth-Year Review Committee meets (virtually)
Schedule of Events


If you have issues accessing the Fifth-Year Interim Reports for institutions in your cluster by the indicated date, please notify the chair of your cluster and email  Evaluators@sacscoc.org for assistance.

The Fifth-Year Committee meeting will take place virtually.  You will receive detailed information about connecting to the meeting as the date approaches. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. on Day 1 and conclude by 2:00 pm on Day 2The chairs will meet at 9:00 a.m. on both days. There is no travel associated with attending the meeting.  However, you will need to complete and submit an expense voucher to receive the incidental payment for meeting participation.

  1. Expense Voucher
  2. Information for Committee Members – (explains reimbursable expenses)
  3. Preliminary Schedule

Resources for Conducting Your Review

  1. Using Box for Fifth-Year Interim Reviews
  2. Links to the Principles of Accreditation and the Resource Manual:
  3. Analyzing a Case for Compliance(to assist with focusing and developing your analysis of the institution’s case for its compliance with each of the standards)
  4. Fifth-Year Interim Report Template (used by institution)
  5. Fifth-Year Interim Review Committee Template

Your Role as a Member of a Fifth-Year Interim Review

  1. Ethical Obligations of Evaluators
  2. Artificial Intelligence Guideline

Focus Area Training

  1. Web-based Training Modules (Modules in the areas of Finance, Governance, Institutional Effectiveness, and Student Support Services. After viewing modules, your feedback is requested in a short survey)

Select Commission Policies and Guidelines

  1. Credit Hours policy statement
  2. Full-time Faculty Guideline
  3. Interpretation on Core Requirement 8.1 (Student achievement)
  4. Interpretation on Standard 8.2a (Student outcomes: educational programs)
  5. Interpretation on Standard 6.2a (Faculty credentials)
  6. Interpretation on Standard 13.8 (Institutional environment)
  7. Interpretation on Sampling

Writing Your Report

  1. Questions for Assessing the Quality of Writing
  2. Guidelines for Writing Comments for Committee Reports (guidelines on how to write up an evaluator’s analysis of a particular standard as applied)
  3. Request for Justifying and Documenting Qualifications of Faculty (for use when the qualification of a faculty member has been questioned)