Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on academic accreditation

Background: Higher education quality is an essential measurement for any country’s development, since education is a significant source of new sciences and its applications. This importance works as one of the cornerstones toward public health. The sudden change from traditional classroom teaching and learning to online education and learning process did not give educators the time to adjust the teaching material or, for that matter, did not give the program administrators the time to prepare for the needed documents toward the accreditation. This situation creates a dilemma for all members involved in certification. This research is addressing this issue from the accreditation point of view. Design: Brainstorming methodology is used to study the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the academic/health accreditation. Methods: Cause and effect diagram (Fishbone diagram) is used to present the ideas presented by institutional participants related to the effect of COVID-19 on the accreditations processes. Conclusions: The study shows that COVID-19 pandemics have dramatic influence on accreditation processes, which may lead to change and/or adjust the rules and the requirements of the educational institutions due to changes in the fulfillment of the accreditation by the institutions during this period.