Las Acreditaciones y Su Impacto en Universidades Adventistas de Latinoamerica

The recent growing number of new private and religious affiliated universities throughout Latin America has been also marked by increasing and multilayer quality controls, such as accreditations and certifications that seek to impact academic outputs and institutional development. The Seventh Day Adventist Church has about 17 tertiary institutions in the region that work intensively to train human resources through many academic degrees. So, this study intended to understand how the accreditation directors see all these processes in the context of their universities. In order to respond this central question, this exploratory and qualitative research interviewed four directors in four Adventist universities. Two of them had experience and human resources to carry out their task (consolidated universities), while the other two were in development with less resources and experience (In process of consolidation). The results showed that interviewed saw accreditations, and their quality indicators, as necessary and positive for organizing and improving the overall of academic and organizational performance. However, there were some challenges in the internal administration to handle time and processes to make effective quality improvements. Research productivity was felt as one of the most important concerns among consolidated institutions. The article ends with some alternatives to advance quality and accreditations among Adventist universities in the region.