REACCREDITATION RE-CAP

MSUM has been preparing for reaccreditation. This process culminates in a site visit on March 5-7, 2007. The Self-Study Report has been written and now it is time to share with the campus community the ways MSUM lives its mission and its plans for the future.

Who is coming to campus and why?

A team of six university faculty and administrators will visit MSUM in order to recommend that MSUM be re-accredited for 10 more years. The team will make its recommendation to the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), a division of the North Central Association (NCA)—the agency charged by federal law with accrediting higher education institutions in a 19-state region.

What is the purpose of accreditation?

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.

What happened after our last ten-year reaccreditation visit?

Following the visit in 1997, a focus visit on the topics of strategic planning, enrollment, and assessment was required. The focus visit was held in 2000. MSUM demonstrated satisfactory progress at that time towards meeting the goals set.

What are the criteria for reaccreditation?

The self-study report has been written to address the following five criteria for re-accreditation. The five criteria are:

Mission and Integrity: The organization operates with integrity to ensure the fulfillment of its mission through structures and processes that involve the board, administration, faculty, staff, and students.
Preparing for the Future: The organization allocates resources and its processes for evaluation and planning demonstrate its capacity to fulfill its mission, improve the quality of its education, and respond to future challenges and opportunities.
Student Learning and Effective Teaching: The organization provide evidence of student learning and teaching effectiveness that demonstrate it is fulfilling its educational mission.
Acquisition, Discovery, and Application of Knowledge: The organization promotes a life of learning for its faculty, administration, staff, and students by fostering and supporting inquiry, creativity, practice, and social responsibility in ways consistent with its mission.
Engagement and Service: As called for by its mission, the organization identifies its constituencies and serves them in ways both value.

What is our mission? What does it mean to be mission-driven?

A central requirement of accreditation is that we are mission-driven, meaning that all of our programs, policies, and actions are aimed at providing the best learning opportunities for our students. MSUM has several mission documents, including an extended version of the mission, a condensed version, and 12 aims. The condensed mission statement sums it up: “We develop knowledge, talent, and skills for a lifetime of learning, service, and citizenship.” All administrators, faculty, and staff should be able to explain how their work is driven by this mission.