AEE Accreditation Council 2025 Eagle Rock Retreat

AEE Accreditation Council 2025 Eagle Rock Retreat

Steve Pace, Director of Accreditation and Certification

The AEE Accreditation Council meets for its annual in-person meeting at the Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center each June. The school is located near Estes Park, Colorado, and is the perfect location for our yearly retreat. Their mission is, in part, to prepare the next generation of leaders to challenge unjust systems.

This year’s meeting focus, guided by Accreditation Council Chair Aaron Funnell, was to reflect on accomplishments and to continue to improve how we operate. Group working agreements were updated, and many important topics were discussed. Members of the Accreditation Council are Aaron Funnell, Kim Sacksteder, Vic Kerr, Aaron Leonard, Manjul Prateeti, Andrew Farris, Tony Dixon, Katie Baum Mettenbrink, Jose Gonzalez, Katelyn BeVard, Margaret Kelso, Maurie Lung, Paul Wolf, and Amy Smallwood.

During the meeting, we discussed strategic planning, the value proposition of AEE accreditation, commonly unmet standards, improving the efficiency of the self-assessment study process(SAS), and the next revisions of the accreditation standards. Sherry Bagley (AEE Executive Director) was able to attend this year, and her contributions to the meeting were appreciated.

We currently have fourteen applicants for accreditation! There was a long and productive discussion on each of the applicants work on their SAS was going and ways to better support their success.

Lastly, we were able to dedicate time to be together in person. Council members come from many different backgrounds and locations, and each person brings a unique perspective to our work together. There was a consensus that this group of experts is a joy to work with. Diverse viewpoints are welcomed and expressed, members feel supported by each other, and genuinely find joy in achieving our purpose, which is to set standards of practice, provide education in furtherance of our purpose, and assess organizations for quality assurance.