Author Profile

George Avery

Dr. Avery is a health policy and economics researcher currently working with a private consulting firm. He earned a Ph.D. in Health Services Research, Policy, and Administration from the University of Minnesota and a Master's in Public Administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He has over 25 years of experience in public health and health policy, including 9 years in academia as a faculty member at Purdue University, the University of Minnesota Duluth, and Pulaski Technical College. He is the author of 20 peer-reviewed journal articles and five book chapters.

Articles by George Avery

The Quiet Dagger: Professional Program Accreditation and the Pressure for “Diversity Initiatives”

May 13, 2016 ·

The preferences of a largely left-of-center corps of faculty and administrators explains much of the pressure for diversity, but the impact on accreditation also has to be considered—not just regional accrediting organizations, but also the professional bodies that accredit degree programs. They have pushed the diversity agenda by requiring specific programs and preferential hiring policies. Although diversity sounds benign, these programs are a silent dagger thrust at intellectual pluralism. They use the market signal of legitimacy, conferred by accreditation, to reinforce an academic intellectual monoculture.