The National Association of Colleges and Schools descends upon the University today to begin the process of re-accreditation. The group, which grants accreditation to secondary and post-secondary schools in their 19-state jurisdiction as part of the Higher Learning Commission, will spend three days on campus evaluating the progress on certain issues they raised the last time they were on campus, in March of 1993.

Mark Gromko, the University’s vice provost for academic affairs, and Bill Knight, the director of planning and research, head the committee that began the process for re-accreditation in the fall of 2000. The two and their committees produced a self-study document which graded their progress on 10 issues, ranging from technology to increased cooperation with the Firelands campus. Throughout the 85-page document, Gromko and Knight keep one theme in mind: student success. They address each issue the NCA deemed in need of improvement and five core themes the HLC wants addressed: purposes, resources, efficacy, planning and integrity.

That’s where each University student comes in. The 10-member NCA committee will meet today with any student willing at a 4 p.m. gathering in room 201 of the Student Union. They hope to get students’ opinions and their views on issues facing the University.

“Obviously, the main theme we have tried to portray with our self-study and everyone here tries to portray is the importance of how the students feel,” Knight said. “We want to get as many students and as many different viewpoints as we possibly can hear. There will be no administrators there, so students can feel free to address their issues with the committee members.” In addition, the group will sit down with classified and administrative staff members, faculty and members from the general education committee, the undergraduate and graduate councils, the student achievement assessment committee, athletic director Paul Krebs, the board of trustees, the dean of students, members of Faculty Senate and many others. The group will also send two or three members of its team to the Firelands campus, to help judge the integration between the two campuses.

Gromko said that any number of things could happen once the NCA completes the accreditation process here.

“We are confident that we will be re-accredited,” he said. “But they can require us to re-assess ourselves in two years, or they may come back in a few years and meet with certain people again. The goal is to improve ourselves and improve the environment for students in any way we can.”