CAS Revises the Common Core of its Standards for 2015 Publication

CAS has revised its core standards - the General Standards - to provide direction for functional areas across higher education. These General Standards are embedded within all of the functional area standards for the ninth edition of the CAS Professional Standards for Higher Education, to be released in August 2015.

Washington, D.C. The Council for the Advancement of Stan­dards in Higher Education (CAS) has revised its core standards – the General Standards - to provide direction for functional areas across higher education. Composed of 41 collaborating professional associations representing more than 100,000 professionals in higher education, CAS approved the revision of its General Standards and Guidelines in spring 2014, and these General Standards are embedded within all of the functional area standards for the August release of the ninth edition of the CAS Professional Standards for Higher Education.

"The CAS General Standards provide the consistent framework on which all of the other functional area standards are built. As such, it is important that we review them regularly to ensure that they are up to date and reflect what we know about good practice, regardless of the specific area in which they are applied,” explained Laura Dean, CAS past-president and Associate Professor at the University of Georgia. “The committee that worked on the revision included professionals from areas as diverse as career services, learning assistance, and parent/family programs; they represented large universities, small private colleges, two-year institutions, and professional association management; and they worked diligently to survey current issues and to incorporate up-to-date guidance into the final document. The revised standards, reflecting the essentials of good practice today, were approved by consensus of the CAS member associations. We continue to be proud of the quality of the CAS standards and the role they play in contributing to strong and valuable programs and services that benefit students across higher education."

CAS was established in 1979 to develop standards that promote college student learning and self-assessment for institutional effectiveness. There are now 44 CAS Standards in diverse areas of the college student experience.

CAS standards and guidelines are available from the online store at www.cas.edu. The ninth edition of the CAS Professional Standards for Higher Education will be released in August 2015. The book of standards is the defining source of professional standards for many of the services provided to students in higher education. CAS publications and other materials can be ordered at www.cas.edu.