As part of the accreditation process, Ball State hosted a second forum open to the Muncie community to critique and comment on the university’s report.
The forum was hosted at the Horizon Center, where faculty, students and the Muncie community were invited to attend. A live telecast was available for those who couldn’t go.
Not only does the accreditation process affirm students’ degrees and their legitimacy, it also allows the university to receive funding from the federal government, said Michael Maggiotto, dean of the College of Sciences and Humanities.
“Any institution needs to reflect on whether or not it has achieved its goals,” he said. “The criteria that are used to evaluate us are generally accepted criteria of excellence in higher education. It’s a continuous quality improvement.”
Marilyn Buck, associate provost, said Ball State should not worry about receiving its accreditation.
The report, which was summarized by several members of the committee, has five different sections. According to the Institutional Accreditation website, this report gives the “institution an opportunity to conduct a critical self-assessment as a means to ensure accountability and plan for improvement.”
Buck said chapters three and four may be the areas of most importance to Ball State students. Section three deals with appropriate degree programs, hiring of well-trained faculty and staff as well as other parts. Section four deals with assessing student learning and student retention and graduation.
Students, faculty and alumni have been given the opportunity to provide feedback on all parts of the report. The two forums that were conducted yielded an estimate of at least 15 to 20 attendees.
Monday night, there were three people in the audience, but Buck said she believes this could be because of the location of the forum.
“Because the event was not on campus, we expected less [attendees],” Buck said.
The comments that have been received so far deal with people voicing their opinions on things the committee didn’t say enough about, she said.
Buck said she understands the importance of getting communication from the public.
“We’re telling the university’s story,” she said. “Though there were 100 people involved [in the committee], there are over 20,000 [students] on campus and several alumni. We haven’t gotten everyone’s story, and it’s important to get that.”
The next accreditation meeting is scheduled to take place today at 3 p.m. in the Ball Communication Building. All are invited to attend and receive answers to any questions they may have.
Other options for input are also available. There is a survey on Ball State’s accreditation website and others can send their input to HLC2013@bsu.edu.
