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from the issue of October 26, 2006
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Review team begins 3-day visit Nov. 6
BY KIM HACHIYA, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Nearly two years of work preparing for UNL's decennial accreditation review culminates in a site visit Nov. 6-8 by a 14-member external review team.
The team, chaired by Phillip Jones, vice president for student services at the University of Iowa, will spend three days at UNL interviewing faculty, staff and students. It will deliver a brief preliminary report to Chancellor Harvey Perlman the last day of the visit and submit a final written report within nine to 10 weeks.
While the team will spend the bulk of its time in pre-scheduled meetings, several open sessions have been scheduled to allow input from faculty, staff, students and the public.
Open meetings with staff are Nov. 7, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Nebraska Union, and 1 to 2 p.m. in the East Union. Faculty open meetings are Nov. 7, 3 to 4 p.m. in the Nebraska Union and 4 to 5 p.m. in the East Union.
The open meeting for students is 3 to 4 p.m. Nov. 7 in the Nebraska Union. And, the open meeting for the public is 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 6 in the Van Brunt Visitors Center.
UNL is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The North Central Association, founded in 1895, is one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States.
Accreditation assures the public that an institution meets threshold levels of quality and it provides an incentive for improvement. Student financial aid and most research funding from federal and other sources are granted only to those studying or working at accredited institutions. Additionally, most institutions will accept transfer credits only from accredited institutions.
The process requires intense self-scrutiny as an institution undergoes a self-study to ascertain it fulfills a number of requirements laid out by the Higher Learning Commissions; the process also requires that persons from other organizations evaluate the institution's analysis by visiting the institution.
UNL's self-study, completed earlier this fall, is online at www.unl.edu/svcaa/accreditation. The nearly 300-page document was written by a team of faculty, staff and administrators using information gathered by groups of faculty and administrators charged with determining how UNL fulfills the HLC's five criteria. Early drafts were posted on the web; feedback was solicited and received from across the university community. The criteria are mission and integrity; preparing for the future; student learning and effective teaching; acquisition, discovery and application of knowledge; and engagement and service. Each criteria point has a number of sub-questions that institutions must fulfill.
UNL has opted to undergo a special emphasis review in addition to a standard review. The special emphasis review will focus on UNL's academic strategic planning efforts. Marlene I. Strathe, provost and senior vice president of Oklahoma State University, is leading the special emphasis review team. The goal of this review is to gain advice and input into UNL's strategic planning process. The team will not comment on the particular outcomes of UNL's process, but is expected to comment on the process itself and offer ways to improve the process to make it more useful and meaningful.
The team will have a workroom in the Great Hall of the Kauffman Center. Most of its interviews will occur in either the Nebraska Union or the East Union.
UNL has been continuously accredited since 1913; the last review occurred in 1996-97.
GO TO: ISSUE OF OCTOBER 26
NEWS HEADLINES FOR OCTOBER 26
Harvey (and others) frolic in Mike's mind
Computer sci center to honor Schorrs
Masters return Nov. 1 to share with students
Review team begins 3-day visit Nov. 6
Self-study offers insight for campus, review team
Combined Campaign fund drive begins Oct. 26
Flu shot clinics offered
Initiative information posted online
732610S36330X
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