In the belief that accreditation policies and practices must be realistic and sensitive to the changing nature of higher education, the College Delegate Assembly of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools --which adopted revised accreditation standards for southern colleges-- proposed an evaluation of the effectiveness of Illustration 3 of Standard 5. To determine whether the requirements of Illustration 3, which deal with the professional competency of faculty members, were being met by southern institutions, data were collected in the spring of 1967 from 8,492 faculty members at 141 public and private 2-year colleges and 51,411 faculty members at 329 public and private 4-year colleges and universities. Among other findings, it was revealed that all faculty members at both types of institutions do not hold advanced degrees. Seventy-three percent of the 2-year colleges have 40% or more teaching faculty members with 2 years of advanced study beyond the bachelor's degree, but only 3.1% of the 4-year institutions reported on teaching staff who were so prepared. In 150 of the 4-year colleges, the doctorate is held by 30% or more of the faculty, but 14 colleges reported no teachers holding doctor's degrees. Competency certification (as an endorsement of equivalent preparation) is more common among 2-year colleges than among 4-year institutions. It was concluded that although compliance varies among institutions, Illustration 3 is not being met successfully by any of the institutions studied. (WM)