Ball State University received a full 10-year reaccreditation from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
Over the past two years, Ball State took part in a self-study that included evaluation of programs, community input and a visit from an accreditation site team. For the next 10 years, the university will not have to go through any reviews or monitoring.
Acting President Beverly Pitts said she is pleased with how everything came out.
"It was a two-year process, and we've been working toward this for some time," Pitts said. "The reaccreditation ensures the quality of the university for students."
The first site team visit for the reaccreditation came last February at a tense time for the university. The McKinney family was in the process of filing a lawsuit against Ball State for the death of their son, Michael McKinney. He was shot by University Police Officer Robert Duplain. Pitts said she never thought the university would lose its accreditation.
The team came to Ball State for four days to see if the self-study was working, and they have recommended the university be re-accredited, Pitts said.
Douglas McConkey, vice president of student affairs, said Ball State has improved in many areas since the last accreditation.
"The outcome is a testimony to what a great job we did preparing the report and the self-study," McConkey said.
The accreditation report suggested Ball State improve in the area of faculty salaries, a goal the university has set for itself, McConkey said.
"High-quality universities need to work to retain high-quality faculty," McConkey said. "They were supportive of our efforts and encouraged us to continue working to improve faculty salaries."
According to the self-study report, most concerns that the last accreditation report suggested Ball State address have improved. Some, including electronic and Internet courses and distance education, still remain areas of improvement.
Deborah Balogh, associate provost, said the site team supported goals the university set for itself.
"Clearly, our self-study demonstrated that we had taken feedback from the 1993 team very seriously and had made significant gains over the last 10 years," Balogh said.
"Essentially, they agreed with the challenges we identified in our self-study and affirmed the institution's ability to respond effectively to those challenges," Balogh said. "Our self-study was very consistent with the site team's perceptions, so it gave us a great deal of credibility."
Pitts said that with a new president there would be a new planning process.
While no one factor determined the outcome of the reaccreditation, Pitts said former-President Brownell's five-year improvement plan helped the process.
"The five-year plan certainly was a factor," Pitts said. "Planning was one of the things they look at; they said we had a very clear mission."
Continued work with technology is a high priority, Pitts said.
"The reaccreditation doesn't come as a surprise, but we're certainly pleased," Pitts said.--2)TC?reaccreditationDNEditorial--2SORT+â-£+â-ä2AUDT
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