Affirmation of Accreditation Update

Reaccreditation process is on time and on track;
Self-study processes involve staff, enrich institution

Prescott, Arizona–August 15, 2006 — Northcentral University (NCU) is conducting a comprehensive self-study process leading up to the site visit by representatives of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools Higher Learning Commission. The visit is scheduled for Feb. 25-27, 2008 and is a key aspect of the reaffirmation of NCUs regional accreditation.

NCU was first accredited by the NCACS/HLC in 2003. This was a significant milestone for NCU and for online education, as NCU became the first university accredited to offer 100% online doctoral degree programs as part of its original accreditation.

The self-study process is right on track, says coordinator of the self study, Donna Meyer. Weve hit all of our target dates and all of the participants are learning a lot about NCUwhich is the purpose of the study.

There are five criteria for accreditation: 1. Mission and Integrity; 2. Preparing for the future; 3. Student Learning and Effective Teaching; 4. Acquisition, Discovery, and Application of Knowledge; 5. Engagement and Service. As part of the self-study process at NCU there is a separate committee corresponding to each criterion, as well as a steering committee with oversight of the whole process. Each o f the five committees will write a report which, after review and finalization, will be included as a chapter in the final self-study report.

The self-study report will include the five criterion chapters, in addition to an introduction/overview that will discuss the important characteristics of NCU as well as significant institutional progress since the original accreditation process. The report also will include a discussion of the self-study process itself, a conclusions section and supporting documentation.

NCUs own deadline for the final draft of the self-study report is Nov. 7, 2007, and it is to be forwarded to the HCL site visit team in January 2008. The site visit team will use the report to formulate questions to be raised during their visit.

The site visit will be quite an occasion. Team members will meet with Mentors and Learnersboth those from the Prescott/Prescott Valley area and others who will be coming in to participateas well as the NCU Board, staff members, and even local business people. These teams like to have conversations with as many people associated with the university as they can.

Before the site team departs they will announce their recommendation to the school. The team can recommend extending the NCU accreditation for 10 years or attach conditions requiring more frequent reviews. Completing the reaffirmation process, the site team submits its report to the HLC Review Committee, which in turn makes a recommendation to the commissions Board of Trustees. The Trustees make the final disposition, which may take as long as two months after the site visit.

The process of self-study at NCU will continue even after that, however, in part because the HLC encourages the practice, but mainly because the pursuit of excellence is a constant in NCUs institutional culture.

For more information on the NCUs reaccreditation process, visit NCU accreditation update. For details on the Higher Learning Commission and its approach to accreditation view the pdf file at http://www.ncahlc.org/download/2003Overview.pdf.