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Considering the roles of professional accrediting bodies in online programme quality: the case of the NASPAA

ABSTRACT While there has been a good deal of discussion of what principles and practices tend to foster online education quality, there has been very little about what professional accrediting bodies at the university level could or should do to ensure appropriate levels of quality. This study uses five practice areas derived from the literature to survey 144 member institutions in the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA). The article provides an analysis of the findings related to institutional support, student readiness, faculty (i.e. teaching staff) motivation, course delivery consistency and systemic online quality standards. The findings highlight that explicit use of online quality standards, training of faculty, faculty member motivation to teach online and technical support for faculty and students are the most highly correlated with perceived quality of programme. Generalisable recommendations for practice and considerations for future research are discussed.