Inside Iowa State

October 8, 2004

ISU prepares for accreditation evaluation team visit in March

by Karen Bolluyt

Iowa State is preparing for a visit by an accreditation evaluation team in March 2006. The Higher Learning Commission, part of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, schedules these evaluations every 10 years and is responsible for accrediting all colleges and universities in this region.

Associate provost David Holger said universities go through the accreditation process for several reasons. Among them: such reviews encourage self-examination, provide accountability and quality assurance, and allow universities to benefit from the perspectives of outsiders. Holger noted that some financial aid is available only to accredited institutions, which is one reason accreditation is important to students.

The provost's office is overseeing preparation of the self-study required for the accreditation.

"The commission has changed its emphasis. It is less interested in reviewing the past and more interested in how we assess our programs and how we use those assessments to improve. It is interested in outcomes and in our future," Holger said.

"In the past, there was a temptation for institutions to hide problems to get favorable evaluations. The new process recognizes that every institution has some problems and deserves credit for identifying and addressing them," Holger added.

Another advantage of the new process, according to Holger, is that documents prepared for the self-study are useful to the institution.

"The self-study will produce information and plans that we expect to use regularly. That is a change from previous self-studies," he said.

The outline for the self-study is on the Web at http://www.iastate.edu/~accreditation/. The study will be divided into 120 Web pages, with links to related documents.

A 15-member steering committee for the self-study is not intended to represent constituencies. Instead, it includes people who are in a position to coordinate information gathering.

These committee members are responsible for gathering information and writing first drafts. The drafts will be written a year before the final report is submitted in December 2005 to allow for a year of campus discussion and revisions.

"We do not want to burden faculty and staff, but we do want their expertise and ideas. During the review and comment period, people can have a significant impact without a large commitment of time," Holger said.

Holger said that it is helpful that Iowa State's next strategic plan is nearing completion.

"That is ideal for us. The focus on the future is the same and the discussions are timely," he said.

Holger described the self-study process at the President's Council meeting in September. The Power-Point slides he used can be found at http://www.iastate.edu/~inst_res_info/pages/PCR.html (click September 2004 and go to slides 20-30).

To request a similar presentation, contact Holger at 4-5553 or holger@iastate.edu.

Steering committee members are:

David Acker, agriculture; Brenda Behling, provost's office; Susan Carlson, provost's office; Mark Chidister, president's office; Kristen Constant, provost's office; Todd Holcomb, student affairs; Dave Holger, provost's office; Sonja Klocker, research administration; Gersham Nelson, ACE fellow, president's office; Michael Ouart, Extension; Johnny Pickett, business and finance; Gebre Tesfagiorgis, institutional research; Bill Tysseling, continuing education; Susan Yager, learning and teaching center; Zora Zimmerman, Liberal Arts and Sciences; Ruth Birch, provost's office; and Yan Ling Wang, graphic design

"In the past, there was a temptation for institutions to hide problems to get favorable evaluations. The new process recognizes that every institution has some problems and deserves credit for identifying and addressing them."

David Holger,
associate provost