A primary purpose of accreditation of an institution is to ensure that the institution is in compliance, and continues to maintain compliance, with a set of established standards. In the spirit of continuous improvement, the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) has created new Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement to direct the reaffirmation process. The foundation for the Principles is that the processes specified in the earlier Criteria are mature and pervasive in the universities and colleges.

The reaffirmation processes specified under the Principles are new as well. The driving process under the earlier Criteria was a comprehensive “self-study,” similar to the approaches used in program accreditation processes. For SACS, this approach typically required comprehensive self-study teams at the university to prepare the self-studies that were the major focus of the reaffirmation visit.

The title of the new Principles clearly emphasizes the focus on quality enhancement. Under the new Principles, an institution must judge the extent it is in compliance with the Core Requirements and Comprehensive Standards defined by SACS. A fundamental element of reaffirmation by SACS is the Compliance Certification, attesting to the university's compliance with the requirements and standards. An institution is required to create a report that includes narrative and documentation of evidence of compliance for each requirement or standard, called the Compliance Certification Document (CCD) or Report.