Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin Earns Candidacy with Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

AUSTIN, TX - July 21, 2008 - The Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin today announced that the school has been granted initial candidacy by The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Now in its 15th year of operation, the Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin (AOMA) currently has 204 students studying in a four-year Master of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine graduate program.

"Our SACS approval is a testimony to AOMA's excellence in learning, teaching, and administration," said Dr. Joylynn Reed, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Chair of AOMA's Board of Governors. "Our student, faculty and patients experience our first class operation, but the formal acknowledgment from an accrediting body that is known for its rigor and high standards is tremendously satisfying and rewarding."

AOMA is authorized to offer the degree of Master of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (MAcOM) by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. In 1996, AOMA received programmatic accreditation by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. AOMA's new status allows the school to pursue membership with SACS over the next 18 to 24 months. Its staff and faculty, as a team, are completing the remainder of the documentation required to verify compliance with additional SACS requirements.

"Candidacy means that AOMA has met critical standards in several key areas," said Anne Province, AOMA vice president for institutional effectiveness.

"Areas such as faculty qualifications, academic programs, financial resources, facilities and library resources were all accepted as compliant under SACS published guidelines, validating the tremendous efforts of faculty and staff over the last two years."

The standard accreditation process involves three steps, typically spaced over several years-application, candidacy and accreditation. Thousands of pages of documentation and records are provided to the accrediting agency, which reviews them and sends a team to visit on-site and verify the submitted materials, assess facilities and interview faculty, staff and students. In March 2008, a five-member committee representing SACS visited the Austin, TX campus and filed a report to the Commission that led to this favorable vote.