Accreditation Update: December 5, 2012

As the College moves into the final year of its self-study and ongoing preparations for the Higher Learning Commission, the Self-Study Steering Committee has been not only considering the Criteria for Accreditation (see previous updates), but also those areas that the Higher Learning Commission listed as "topics requiring institutional attention" during its last visit.  As part of our preparation, we are expected to reflect seriously on those issues and provide evidence to the Commission documenting the extent to which we believe they have been addressed. In 2003, the evaluation team indicated that five topics should receive attention by Concordia, with the Commission expecting us to have made progress in each.  The next few updates will provide a little more information about those topics.

The evaluation team from 2003 first noted that Concordia needed to make "progress in outcomes assessment and curricular review (e.g., attention to mission-critical student learning outcomes)."  The 2003 report indicated that "approximately one third to twenty-five percent of the departments do not successfully implement assessment plans."  The Self-Study Steering Committee is confident that Concordia is in much better shape in this respect than we were in 2003, though, of course, the expectations of the Commission are also greater.  Strong leadership and encouragement has been provided by many groups and individuals, including the recent Deans of the College, the Directors of Assessment, the Assessment Committee, and several individual departments, programs, and assessment enthusiasts on campus.  We will emphasize that Concordia was accepted as an inaugural member of the Academy for Assessment of Student Learning (a Higher Learning Commission initiative) and graduated from the Academy in June of 2011.  Concordia used this opportunity to develop a plan for assessing the various components of its new core curriculum.

Many who were on campus in 2003 recall that our attempt to review and revise our curriculum became stalled on several occasions.  The representatives from the Higher Learning Commission recognized this and encouraged us to focus on this task and make progress in adopting a new core curriculum.  We, of course, did subsequently approve a new curriculum, and began implementing this curriculum in the fall semester of 2006.

The second of the five topics requiring institutional attention that was identified by the Higher Learning Commission cautioned Concordia College that the "number and scope of initiatives exceed currently available human and financial resources; need to prioritize and focus institutional energy and resources."  More on this issue in the next update.

A booklet describing all of the requirements of the Higher Learning Commission can be found here. If you have questions about the Higher Learning Commission or Concordia’s approach to the self-study, please direct them to either of the coordinators - Kristi Loberg or Michael Wohlfeil - or to any of the members of the Self-Study Steering Committee.

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