HLC conference helps KU advance in accreditation cycle

LAWRENCE — Twenty-five individuals from the University of Kansas attended the Higher Learning Commission’s annual conference March 26-28 in Chicago. KU’s group included accreditation committee members, program-level accreditation officers and administrative leaders. Along with sessions focused on various aspects of the accreditation process, attendees had the opportunity to learn more about or discuss timely topics such as assessment best practices, ChatGPT and higher education issues in the current political landscape.

“The conference provided a lot of good information, especially for those who haven’t been involved in an HLC accreditation process before,” said Jennifer Roberts, vice provost for academic affairs & graduate studies, who co-chairs the HLC Planning Group along with Mike Werle, dean of postdoctoral affairs and graduate studies. “It’s a complex process, and we all came away with a much greater sense of its scope and requirements.”

At KU, the HLC reaffirmation of accreditation process is well underway. Committees assembled for each of the five criteria for accreditation are engaged in documenting evidence that demonstrates KU meets or exceeds requirements and will draft narratives describing the institution’s compliance with the criteria. They will then shape the narratives into a single 35,000-word assurance argument to be submitted along with the evidence.

Like most HLC-accredited institutions, KU has areas that need improvement to be in full compliance with the criteria. Among them are ensuring the course catalog is complete and program requirements are accurate, strengthening assessment of student learning, documenting faculty credentials and establishing a routine process for ensuring syllabi collection and compliance with required elements.

The initial draft of KU’s assurance argument is expected to be complete in May 2024 to allow time for vetting and modifications prior to submission to HLC in December 2024. A team of peer reviewers from other HLC-accredited institutions will visit KU’s campuses on March 3 and 4, 2025.

“We want to be well-prepared to tell our story when the reviewers visit our campuses,” Werle said. “We have a lot to be proud of at KU, so we need to be able to articulate that in multiple ways.”

For more information, please visit HLC Accreditation 2025.