The Office of the Provost and the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching are seeking input from the U-M community, including faculty, staff and students, as part of the Ann Arbor campus’ regular reaccreditation review by the Higher Learning Commission.
The Provost’s Office and CRLT will host a series of town hall meetings in March that will be organized around the HLC’s Criteria for Accreditation.
more information
Martin A. Philbert, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said the meetings will give the campus community an opportunity to discuss the university’s assurance argument, which demonstrates how well it meets expectations for core components and criteria set forth by the HLC.
“Members of the campus community may have questions about reaccreditation and input they’d like to share concerning the criteria and core components set forth by the HLC,” said Philbert. “We look forward to robust conversations over the next few weeks.”
For reaccreditation, U-M must speak to five criteria: mission; integrity; teaching and learning with a focus on quality, resources and support; teaching and learning with a focus on evaluation and improvement; and resources, planning and institutional effectiveness.
The town hall schedule, with the topics for each, is:
Institutional Mission and Integrity
• March 12, 10 a.m., Vandenberg Room, Michigan League.
• March 14, 4:30 p.m., Johnson Room, Lurie Engineering Center.
Teaching and Learning Excellence and Continuous Improvements
• March 18, 5 p.m., Gallery, Hatcher Library.
• March 19, 10 a.m. East Room, Pierpont Commons.
• March 21, 2 p.m. Great Lakes Central, Palmer Commons.
Institutional Resources, Planning and Institutional Effectiveness
• March 26, 10 a.m., Great Lakes Central, Palmer Commons.
• March 28, 3 p.m., Vandenberg Room, Michigan League.
Students are welcome to participate in all sessions and are strongly encouraged to attend the session on March 18, as it will be tailored more specifically to student-focused conversations.
All U-M affiliates are welcome to attend the town hall events. RSVPs are requested and light refreshments will be provided.
The accreditation process takes place every 10 years, and the recently redesigned U-M accreditation website includes general information about regional accreditation in higher education, U-M’s institutional and specialized accreditation status and history, details regarding the next campus visit in 2020, and information about U-M’s previous reaccreditations.
Accreditation of universities in the United States is intended to ensure the quality of education provided by an institution. It assures that students are able to transfer credits between accredited schools, and some graduate schools only accept students with degrees from accredited schools.
Only accredited institutions are eligible to receive and distribute federal funds for higher education, including student financial aid and research funding.
U-M’s current reaccreditation cycle will culminate with an HLC Peer Review Team campus visit on March 22-24, 2020.
