After more than two years of preparing for a required accreditation visit from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association, Spoon River College has received official confirmation that the Institutional Actions Council (IAC) voted to continue the accreditation of Spoon River College.
“This means that Spoon River College has met the agency’s requirements and criteria, ensuring that the degrees earned by our students will be recognized by other colleges and institutions,” said Dr. Randy Greenwell, interim president at Spoon River College.
For the past two years, faculty and staff at the college have taken a critical look at what the college does and how well it follows its own Mission and Vision statements. The resulting self-analysis report, which ran more than 200 pages, was prepared in advance of the on-site visit by HLC evaluators in February 2012.
“Accreditation is critical to the future of the institution, and the self-study was the first step in completing that process,” said Greenwell, who served as chair of the accreditation committee. “The self-study also gave us the opportunity to review what has been accomplished, identify areas in which we can or should improve, and to determine the future direction of the college.”
Along with assessing the formal educational activities, HLC evaluates the governance and administration, financial stability, admissions and student services, institutional resources, student learning, institutional effectiveness, and relationships within the organization and with external constituencies.
Accreditation of an institution is also recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, and ensures that eligible students will continue to receive federal financial aid in the form of grants and loans.
“All Spoon River College employees did an outstanding job researching and gathering material for the self-study, and the group who was in charge of actually writing the report deserves a huge pat on the back,” Greenwell said. “This is a document the college and the communities we serve can be proud of.”
The report can be viewed at http://bit.ly/KemVyk or at www.src.edu by clicking on the College Accreditation link under the About SRC tab. The next comprehensive evaluation will be in 2021-22.
The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an independent corporation and one of two commission members of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), which is one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States. The Higher Learning Commission accredits degree-granting post-secondary educational institutions in the North Central region.