University prepares to renew 10-year accreditation

The Daily News



Students could be affected if Ball State does not renew its 10-year accreditation in October, but the Higher Learning Commission says the university is in good standing.


Marilyn Buck, associate provost and one of the co-chairs of the steering committee for accreditation, said a university without accreditation doesn’t receive federal financial aid.


“That would make it much more difficult for students to get a degree,” she said.


Another consequence could be the impact of the degrees themselves, Buck said.


“Graduate schools won’t recognize the degree unless it’s from a regionally-accredited institution,” she said. “Some employers won’t recognize the degree unless it’s from an accredited institution.”


Ball State has been accredited since 1925, and John Hausaman, process administrator of public information with HLC, said the university is in good standing when it comes to the upcoming review.


One of the main steps to getting accredited is the self-survey the university conducts. The survey studies five criteria from the Higher Learning Commission, one of the six regional organizations in the country which grants accreditation. 


The five criteria categories are Mission, Integrity: Ethical and Responsible Conduct, Teaching and Learning: Quarterly, Resource and Support, Teaching and Learning: Evaluation and Improvement, and Resources, Planning and Institutional Effectiveness. The self-study is sent to the HLC and released to the public.


Ball State released its self-survey in August.


Hausaman said the idea is to have the university look at itself and hold itself to the criteria. In gaining accreditation, he said, the university legitimizes itself.


“The institution needs to provide evidence to a team of peer reviewers that they are meeting these criteria,” Hausaman said.


Some of the main areas that are being used as evidence Ball State meets the criteria are immersive learning opportunities, its progress in geothermal plans and the Ball State Bold campaign, which raised more than $10 million more than the goal of $200 million to support university programs.


Controversies also have their place in the review, but Buck said they look more at the university’s response than the incident itself.


“If there are things we can improve upon as a result of what we’ve learned when these challenges come up, then those are the important things,” she said.


A team of peer reviewers from the HLC will visit campus from Oct. 7 through Oct. 9. Hausaman said the purpose of the visit is to validate the contents of the self-study.


Buck said the visiting team will not only speak with teachers, but also will stop students to garner their opinion of the university.


“We look forward to the fact that individuals will be able to respond to these types of questions,” she said.


After the visit in October, the team will return to the HLC and announce their decision in the Spring Semester.



See Monday’s issue for a breakdown of the accreditation criteria.

 

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