Commission to evaluate MSU accreditation process
After almost two years of preparing data on its programs, MSU has just two days to make its case for re-accreditation — which could bring more federal funding to the university in the future. A 13-person site team from the North Central Association's Higher Learning Commission will meet with more than 100 administrators, faculty and staff members when they come to campus Monday and Tuesday. The association is an Arizona-based accrediting organization for K-12 schools and universities. "It's the end of a two-year process of looking at ourselves, collecting data from a whole set of sources and trying to pull it together to tell the MSU story," said Karen Klomparens, dean of The Graduate School and co-coordinator of MSU's accreditation self study. Federal financial aid is based on an institution's accreditation status, which is decided every 10 years, Klomparens said. The site visit is meant to personally verify the university's self study, which was submitted two months ago, Provost Kim Wilcox said. "It's to confirm what we've written is accurate, and also for them to get a sense of how we put the goals into action on campus," Wilcox said. Universities are required to meet five criteria in the self study — defining their mission and integrity, preparing for future opportunities, providing evidence of student learning and teaching effectiveness, supporting creativity and social responsibility and maintaining a commitment to engagement.