HLC- Regional Reaccreditation Dr. Joseph Frizado Vice Provost for Academic Operations & Assessment Reaccreditation under Open Pathways

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 Shorter term improvement project – Assurance Document Demonstrates continued best practices/improvement Replaces self-study and resource room Provides evidence of federal compliance

Quality Initiative New proposal/project to improve institutional quality Original proposal identified two areas – Enrollment Management and General Education HLC Consultants visited Mar Chose University Learning Commons as our project Report was submitted and approved Fall 2012.

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

Assurance Document HLC website is very limited access A draft of our document was made available on BGSU website Feb. 25 Comments/suggestions were incorporated Final version was locked on March 15 Final version (without links) made public April 1

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 15 th BGSU Documents available via web to HLC Campus VisitApril 15 th – 16 th 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- /letter directly to HLC Comments on draft During the visit – Public fora on Criteria – Drop-in sessions for any general comments