In light of the COVID-19 interruption to the delivery of on-site education and corresponding educational practices in and outside of the US, the American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE) has adopted a temporary policy pertaining to site visits required for initial accreditation, renewal of accreditation and interim reporting.
Effective August 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021 virtual site visits are being conducted on a case-by-case basis. The visits are designed to be interactive, and consist of both on-line video sessions and conference calls. Within a reasonable amount of time after a virtual site visit, an on-site visit is required to review facilities.
AALE plans to evaluate the virtual site visit experience at the end of 2021 to determine if positive aspects of the virtual process can be incorporated into the structure of the traditional on-site visit required for accreditation.