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What Faculty and Staff need to know about reaffirmation

ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State Faculty and Staff are vital in providing and delivering the services, education and core components outlined in the HLC criteria for accreditation. To ensure that ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State's accreditation is reaffirmed it is critical that faculty and staff be aware of...   

Graphic that contains details of the faculty and staff open sessions
  1. ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State's vision, mission and core values
  2. Our institutional accreditation process
  3. The HLC accreditation criteria
  4. The dates of the HLC site visit
    1. April 14-15, 2025
  5. How the university as a whole is working to meet the HLC criteria 

Get involved in the accreditation site visit

  • Participate in the appropriate staff or faculty open session:
    • Staff: Monday, April 14 at 3pm ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï Student Center 306
    • Faculty: Monday, April 14 at 3pm ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï Student Center 310
  • Attend any of the open Criteria sessions:
    • – Teaching and Learning: Quality, Resources and Support
      • Monday, April 14 at 10:45am ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï Student Center 306
    • – Institutional Effectiveness, Resources and Planning
      • Monday, April 14 at 10:45am ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï Student Center 310
    • – Integrity: Ethical and Responsible Conduct
      • Monday, April 14 at 2:00pm ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï Student Center 310
    • – Teaching and Learning: Evaluation and Improvement
      • Monday, April 14 at 2:00pm ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï Student Center 306
    • – Mission
      • Monday, April 14 at 4:15pm ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï Student Center 310
  • Let your colleagues know that this review is taking place and attend the open sessions together

During an HLC site visit and at the staff and faculty open session, the review team will have questions. While this is not an exhaustive list, below is a list of possible, general questions to help prepare. The voices and insights of our staff and faculty are a very important part of the accreditation process. Please consider attending as you are able. 

Questions HLC may ask faculty and staff

General Questions

  • What do you know about accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission?
  • What distinguishes ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State from neighboring institutions?
  • What are ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State’s greatest strengths?
  • What are the biggest challenges facing ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State?
  • What is it like to work at ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State?
  • How do you feel that you support the mission of ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State? How will you continue to support the mission in the future? 
  • Describe any campus processes that could be improved or made more efficient.
  • What kind of changes are taking place at ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State? 

Questions about Accreditation Criteria

Criterion 1

  • Do you know ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State’s mission statement? How would you describe it?
  • Do you know where you would find the official mission statement?
  • Do you support the mission?
  • How does your college/department/school support the mission?
  • How were you involved in the strategic planning processes at ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State?
  • Are you familiar with the ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State core values?
  • Do you support the core values?
  • How does ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State support students who are underprepared or struggling?
  • Are budget decisions made based on the strategic goals of the university?
  • Do budget decisions take into account recommendations from academic program review?
  • What do you believe have been the major accomplishments of ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State over the last ten years?
  • How do ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State’s processes/activities reflect attention to human diversity?
  • How does ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State support the community at large?
  • Are ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State’s marketing materials accurate and up to date?

Criterion 2

  • Is ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State committed to equal educational/employment opportunities?
  • Describe the campus climate at ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State.
  • Describe shared governance and how faculty participate in decision-making at different levels of the university (department, college, institution)
  • For some common faculty issues (workload, salary, sabbatical leaves, etc.), what works well and what needs to be improved?
  • Are you satisfied with the support you receive to enhance your teaching?
  • Are you satisfied with the support you receive to enhance your scholarship?
  • Have ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State administrators established a culture of trust within the university?
  • Do you understand the FERPA policy?
  • Does ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State have academic and financial requirements which are presented clearly and completely to students and the public?
  • What are the major responsibilities of the Board of Trustees?
  • Who is responsible for curriculum additions/deletions/modifications?
  • Who is responsible for academic policy creation/modification?
  • Do you, faculty, believe you have academic freedom in your teaching?
  • Does ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State have policies and procedures in place to address ethical conduct in research for both faculty and students?

Criterion 3

  • What is the process for making curriculum changes in your academic programs?
  • What is the purpose of ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State’s general education program? How do you know if it is achieving its purpose? How could it be improved?
  • How do you know your majors are attaining the program learning outcomes?
  • What is your school/department’s vision for the future? How does it relate to the university’s vision?
  • How is course quality and consistency ensured in multiple section face-to-face courses? In online versions of face-to-face courses?  In concurrent enrollment courses?
  • Does your school/department offer courses or programs via distance education? If so, how does your school/department ensure the quality of the curriculum?
  • Does the university provide support for the development of on-line courses?
  • Are the classes offered by your department taught by qualified faculty including adjuncts and concurrent enrollment course instructors?
  • What is the role of faculty in ensuring academic quality?
  • Can you describe the tenure and promotion process? What is your impression of the process?
  • Do you know what ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State’s Quality Initiative was these past three years?
  • Does ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State provide sufficient technology support?
  • What resources are available to support faculty? Are they sufficient?
  • Are you involved in research? Does ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State’s research focus further its mission?
  • What opportunities do students in your program have to gain experience with research? With community or civic engagement? With diversity or multiculturalism?
  • How would you characterize the relationship between faculty and administration?
  • Are students provided with adequate academic and personal support services?
  • Are students provided with sufficient and relevant co-curricular experiences?
  • Does ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State have a commitment to retention and progression to graduation? How successful have the efforts been?
  • Are facilities and classrooms sufficient and appropriately maintained?
  • How do you track your graduates to determine how successful they are after they graduate?

Criterion 4

  • Describe the academic program review process used at ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State.
  • Describe the transfer policy for general education courses for major courses.
  • Are ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State faculty appropriately qualified to teach the courses they are assigned?
  • Describe the general education course approval process.
  • Is your school/department actively involved in assessing student learning?
  • How has your school/department/program used its assessment findings?
  • How is ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State doing with regard to first year retention rates? Graduation rates?
  • What is ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State doing to improve retention/graduation rates?

Criterion 5

  • What are the different streams of revenue utilized by ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State to fund the institution?
  • What challenges do you believe ÌìÌì³Ô¹Ï State will need to deal with in the next 10 years?
  • Do you understand the annual budget process?
  • Are capital improvements (facilities, technology, equipment) based on strategic needs of the institution?
  • Do you believe the Board of Trustees is aware of important initiatives being undertaken on the campus?
  • What is the role of Faculty Senate?
  • How are faculty given the opportunity to provide input into important initiatives?
  • How are assessment results taken into consideration during the budget decision making process?
  • How are academic program review recommendations taken into consideration during the budget decision making process?
  • How are strategic planning goals taken into consideration during the budget decision making process?