UIndy meets accreditation standards
By Mandy Weber | Staff Writer
The University of Indianapolis recently received positive reaffirmation of accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission through the Academic Quality Improvement Plan (AQIP). The continuous quality improvement process, which occurs in a seven-year cycle, allows colleges to display that they meet accreditation standards and expectations.
“AQIP is forward looking,” said Connie Wilson, who worked on the accreditation process. “It’s about constantly looking at continuous improvement. It’s about making improvement and setting new goals, not just looking at the past.”
As a part of the seven-year cycle, institutions must submit an annual written report explaining all action projects.
“Action projects are specific activities that must occur on that cycle,” Wilson said. “The projects can last anywhere from six months to two years.”
One of the projects that UIndy has established is the institution-wide learning goals, which is a two- to three-year project. The four learning goals of the university are creativity, social responsibility, performance and critical thinking.
“The learning goals define what characterizes UIndy education across all different programs and courses,” said Vice President of Research, Planning and International Partnerships Mary Moore. “We feel we have made very significant strides in assisting student learning.”
Some action projects that do not require as much time are the Green Initiative and the freshmen student survey, MAPP Works, both of which are one-year intensive.
“The action projects are the ones you are willing to share with the reviewers and other schools,” Moore said. “The four are the ones we feel we are doing well on. We want them to be evaluated.”
Every four years, members of the university community attend a strategy forum in which they showcase the action projects they are involved in.
“So far we have been to two strategy forums,” Wilson said. “They are located in Chicago and seven to eight schools are invited at a time. A team of six attends the forum, including the president, board of trustees, Mary Moore, one or two other administrators, a staff person and myself.”
A digital portfolio is created every four years. This portfolio illustrates the progress and improvements the university has made by explaining the action projects in detail and the goals the university has in mind. The digital portfolio is available to view online at the university’s Efolio Web site (uindyportfolio2.project.mnscu.edu)
“The ideas we have are very continuous,” Moore said. “We are always trying to improve and have a number of things going on.”
Wilson and members of the UIndy community worked together to create the digital portfolio.
“The Higher Learning Commission then writes back, giving us solid feedback on our progress and things we are already doing,” Wilson said.
The quality checkup is one of the last parts of the cycle before the institution can be considered for reaffirmation.
“The quality check up team wrote a report from their visit in fall 2008-09 and sent it to the Higher Learning Commission,” Wilson said. “Then a reaffirmation team looks at everything we have done, including all feedback reports, and every part of the process is taken into consideration to determine reaffirmation of accreditation.”
The seventh year of the cycle is the reaffirmation. According to President Beverley Pitts, the Higher Learning Commission board voted to continue our accreditation as an AQIP institution. The next system appraisal will occur in 2009-2010, and the university’s next Reaffirmation of Accreditation will occur in 2015-16.
“We chose to be a part of AQIP because it serves as an opportunity to identify ourselves as a part of a group of institutions committed to improving and sharing information about improving,” Moore said. “It was a proactive relationship to being accredited.”
