Look for the Logo…

By now, most of the MSUM community has heard about the 2007 reaccreditation visit by the North Central Association of the Higher Learning Commission. MSUM’s self study steering committee, co-chaired by Dr. Judy Strong and Dr. Deb White, has been hard at work for months now. Five teams made up of over 60 faculty, staff, and students from across the campus have been collecting, compiling, studying, reading, writing, and investigating everything about the University and campus community.

Why is accreditation important? The process provides MSUM with an opportunity for critical self-analysis leading to improvement in quality and performance. Accreditation ensures the quality and integrity of MSUM's programs and services; it allows students to transfer credits to other accredited institutions; it enables students to obtain financial aid and veteran's services; it allows MSUM to participate in federally-funded projects and grants; and it guarantees MSUM's ability to recruit and retain quality faculty and staff.

So look for the self study logo “Our Time To Shine”. You will find it on regular Continews updates, stories in the Advocate, and student activities in the Today/Tomorrow Newsletter. And you can check our NCA Visit website for information about accreditation and the NCA/HLC, our self study teams, progress reports, upcoming events and publicity, and ways you can get involved with the self study.

Beginning in March, the self study teams will hold a series of Open Forums where the University community is invited to learn more about the self study process and provide input for each of the five areas of the report:

March 28, 9:00 Mission and Integrity
March 30, 10:00 Preparing for the Future
April 5, 3:00 Student Learning and Effective Teaching
April 6, 3:00 Acquisition, Discovery and Application of Knowledge
April 10, 3:00 Engagement and Service

These Open Forums will all take place in the CMU room 101 and the dates and times can be found on our self study website and will appear on the MSUM homepage listing of campus events. Everyone is encouraged to attend.

Questions about MSUM’s self study can be directed to Judy Strong or Deb White.