Surveying the National Association of Schools in Dance Accreditation Processes, Policies, and Impacts on Academic Dance Programs

* 1. The study, “Surveying the National Association of Schools in Dance Accreditation Processes, Policies, and Impacts on Academic Dance Programs,” is a research project about the experiences and perspectives of faculty and administrators working in academic dance programs and departments in relation to NASD accreditation. Participants will be asked to discuss their perspectives of and any relevant experiences with NASD accreditation in general and accreditation processes and policy implementation.

Participation in this study consists of an online questionnaire which will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Your participation is completely voluntary. You can stop answering questions at any time and can skip any questions you do not wish to answer. Your contribution to this research - the first of its kind on the topic - will support a scholarly discussion about the benefits and challenges of NASD accreditation in differing institutions. This discussion will also explore the impacts of either choosing to pursue accreditation or not - and the impacts of NASD accreditation on curricula, recruitment and retention, finance, facilities, and student and faculty success. The results of this study will be published in academic journals and presented at conferences. While there are no direct individual benefits to participating in the questionnaire, collectively, this research seeks to benefit all participants who continue to work in dance, their colleagues and supervisors, and postsecondary institutions.

No one other than the research team associated with this project (Dr. Ali Duffy, Dr. Doug Risner, Prof. Anthony Alterio, and Sam Horning) will have access to the raw data. All related documentation will be stored either in a locked file cabinet in the researchers’ offices or on password protected computers. In order to protect professional reputations and relationships, we will assign randomly selected pseudonyms for all participants to be used in public written, published, and presented components of the research. Your name will not be linked to any documentation and any use of this material in reports, publications or presentations will never be associated with participants in this study without permission.

This study is being conducted by a researcher in the School of Theatre and Dance at Texas Tech University. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me, Dr. Ali Duffy, at (ali.duffy@ttu.edu) or 806-742-3410. By checking Yes below, you agree to participate in this research and understand what your participation entails.