The ALO can be understood as a Guide or a Bridge. As a Guide, the ALO is responsible for understanding the Standards and the Policies and Procedures, “translating” them into digestible soundbites for the administration and faculty, and guiding the school into appropriate alignment according to their school’s mission and context. As a Bridge, ALOs are usually the ones who communicate with the assigned ATS liaison, regularly submit any petitions or notifications, and often coordinate the personnel who collate and enter data for the Annual Report Form. ALOs study the ATS guiding documents and ask, “How can the Standards help us maintain quality theological education?” and, “How can we best implement the Standards at our school?” ALOs help a school create processes that integrate accreditation into the life of the school so that the processes become sustainable practices that thrive in a culture of continuous evaluation, planning, and improvement.

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Responsibilities:

Develop and maintain relationships with ATS staff, particularly the school’s assigned ATS staff liaison
Develop and maintain relationships with school administrators/program directors so as to be aware of changes that require petitions or notifications
Communicate with ATS via appropriate channels regarding substantive changes
Maintain working knowledge of ATS Standards of Accreditation and the Commission's Policies and Procedures
Serve as a knowledgeable resource to the school and ensure that it is appropriately informed regarding the Standards of Accreditation and the Commission Policies and Procedures
Integrate the Standards into planning and evaluation activities
Provide appropriate guidance to the school in reaffirmation processes, focused visits, and the submission of Annual Report Form data
Maintain familiarity with the Commission's Statement of Accreditation status posted on the school's page of the ATS website

In the words of ALOs:

"Accreditation is meaningful accountability to help us remain committed to continuous improvement for God’s glory and the benefit of our students."

"ATS is genuinely committed to improving higher education in the Christian [and Jewish] communities…folks are genuinely interested in helping the ALO and school to do better at what it does well."

"ALOs keep a watchful eye for institutional “drift” from the Standards."