The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools will visit UW-Eau Claire from Sept. 14-16 for the reaccreditation site
visit which serves as the means of advancing the quality of higher education institutions, according to the executive summary.
Institutional accreditation allows the university to receive federal and state funding and makes students eligible for most types of federal and financial aid, said Mickey Crothers, lead writer of the HLC Self-Study.
“On a more practical, day-to-day basis, it reminds us to do a good study of our strengths and weaknesses so that we can improve,” she said. “That’s really the purpose of accreditation – to make sure we’re the best university we can be.”
The HLC is composed of eight Peer Reviewers, including administration, faculty and staff members from other institutions, according to the executive summary. The university has been accredited since 1950.
During the visit, the HLC reviewers will attend meetings and set up open forums for faculty, staff and students. They will also address areas they would like to learn more about after studying it in their copies of the Self-Study said MJ Brukardt, co-chair of the HLC Self-Study Steering Team.
“We expect that they will be very busy,” she said. “They may stroll around campus . they may just stop people in the hallways and ask their opinion of things.”
Preparation for the self-study began in spring 2006, Crothers said. A Self-Study Steering Team was put together to study the five criteria for accreditation: mission and integrity; preparing for the future; student learning and effective teaching; acquisition, discovery and application of knowledge; and engagement and service.
From there, Crothers said, study groups were formed to study the five criteria and the challenges issued by the HLC Peer Reviewers at the last accreditation visit in 1999. The study groups’ research served as the base for the development of the self-study document.
With the addition of a new strategic plan, new liberal education learning goals and a new budget process, updating became a huge part of the process, she said. Another major process was the collection of evidence to back up the university’s claims.
Brukardt said this self-study contains two new change requests since the previous accreditation: a doctorate in nursing practice and an online Master of Business Administration program.
“It’s a requirement to have them review that,” she said.
On Sept. 16, the team will present the findings to the university, Brukardt said. A written report will come at a later date to the Chancellor Brian Levin-Stankevich and it will also be sent to the Board of Regents.
After beginning the project, Crothers said she was impressed with what she learned about the university and is excited to share the university with the HLC when it visits this month.
“I am really proud that I work here . It’s going to be fun to see them seeing that.”
For more information, to view the self-study or to check out resources such as the Resource Room or reaccreditation video, visit www.uwec.edu/hlc/criteria.htm.
