HLC- Regional Reaccreditation Reaccreditation under Open Pathways Dr. Joseph Frizado Vice Provost for Academic Operations & Assessment Regional Accreditation • North Central-Higher Learning Commission • 10 years • Self-study – 2 years to produce – Hundreds of pages – Resource Room • New methodology – Open Pathway Why Accreditation? • Ensures transferability of course credits • Assures colleges and employers that a student's education meet acceptable levels of quality • Allows students’ access to federal financial aid Open Pathway • Two components – Quality Initiative – Assurance Document Quality Initiative • New proposal/project to improve institutional quality • Original proposal identified two areas – Enrollment Management and General Education • HLC Consultants visited Mar. 2010 • Expand the student populations for BGSU enrollment and implement programs to recruit them and retain them to successful degree completion. University Learning Commons Assurance Document • Replaces the self study • Moved to an online process • Requires answering a series of prompts to address five major criteria • New criteria Criteria • Mission • Integrity: Ethical & Responsible Conduct • Teaching & Learning: Quality, Resources, and Support • Teaching & Learning: Evaluation and Improvement • Resources, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness Federal Compliance • • • • • • Credits, program length and tuition Student complaint process Transfer policies Verify student identities (distance) Title IV information Institutional Disclosures on Advertising/Recruitment Materials • Relationships with other Accrediting Agencies • Public Notice of Evaluation Visit Title IV Information • • • • • • • • General programs findings Financial Responsibilities requirements Student loan default rates Campus Crime information Student Right to Know Satisfactory Progress/Attendance Policies Contractual relationships Consortial relationships Campus Visit • • • • • Assurance Argument Website is closed on March 15th BGSU Documents available via web to HLC Campus Visit April 15th – 16th Specific meetings • President • Board of Trustees • Faculty Senate leadership • Requested clarifications Open Forum Public meetings (faculty, staff, students and all other interested parties) Participating in the Process • Federal Notification- email/letter directly to HLC • Comments on draft • During the visit – Public fora on Criteria – Drop-in sessions for any general comments