49. Accreditation Today: A New Era of Institutional Choice with Cecelia Livengood

Welcome to a special first anniversary episode of Accreditation Insights! In this episode, I was thrilled to be joined by my co-hosts Dr. Leamor Kahanov, Dr. Greg Pillar, and Dr. Bryan Alexander as we marked this milestone moment.Our guest was Cecelia Livengood, Chief Accreditation Officer of theNational Association for Academic Excellence (NAAE). In this timely andthought-provoking episode, Cecelia shared how NAAE is reimagining accreditation to empower institutions with greater choice and alignment. We explore how today’s higher education landscape demands a more nuanced approach to quality assurance—one that recognizes the diversity of institutional missions and the need for accreditors who speak directly to those distinctions.Whether you're a policy leader, academic administrator, or simply curious about the future of accreditation, this episode offers critical insight into how agencies like NAAE are helping institutions chart their course in an evolving ecosystem.