Accreditations and Institutional Memberships

Accreditation of Programs

Accrediting organizations set the academic standards by which their member institutions must comply. This quality assurance process is performed by private membership associations. Arkansas State University is accredited by the regional institutional accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission, Chicago, IL.

Individual programs are accredited by specialized accrediting agencies for the respective programs, as noted here.

Institutional Memberships

Arkansas State University holds institutional membership in agencies, councils, and organizations important to the quality of its academic programs. A listing of major memberships can be found here.

Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU)

Since 2004, students and faculty of Arkansas State University have benefited from its membership in Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU). ORAU is a consortium of more than 150 colleges and universities and a contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. ORAU works with its member institutions to help their students and faculty gain access to federal research facilities throughout the country; to keep its members informed about opportunities for fellowship, scholarship, and research appointments; and to organize research alliances among its members.

Through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), the DOE facility that ORAU operates, undergraduates, graduates, postgraduates, as well as faculty enjoy access to a multitude of opportunities for study and research. Students can participate in programs covering a wide variety of disciplines including business, earth sciences, epidemiology, engineering, physics, geological sciences, pharmacology, ocean sciences, biomedical sciences, nuclear chemistry, and mathematics. Appointment and program length range from one month to four years. Many of these programs are especially designed to increase the numbers of under-represented minority students pursuing degrees in science- and engineering-related disciplines. A comprehensive listing of these programs and other opportunities, their disciplines, and details on locations and benefits can be found in the ORISE Catalog of Education and Training Programs, which is available at http://see.orau.org, or by calling either of the contacts below.

ORAU’s Office of Partnership Development seeks opportunities for partnerships and alliances among ORAU’s members, private industry, and major federal facilities. Activities include faculty development programs, such as the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards, the Visiting Industrial Scholars Program, consortium research funding initiatives, faculty research and support programs as well as services to chief research officers.

For more information about ORAU and its programs:

Visit the ORAU Home Page (http://www.orau.org/)