One year ago, following the campus meetings, we asked for your “burning questions” regarding HLC. To keep the fire burning…we’d like to answer a few more of those questions in this edition of the newsletter.
Q: As we stand now, are we on the right track to complete all necessary reports and/or milestones? Or are we scrambling in certain areas?
A: Yes, we are on track to have the report and evidence file submitted by March 27!
There are a few areas that we are still gathering evidence for and that should wrap up in the next week or two. The steering team has done an outstanding job of collecting evidence and the entire College’s partnership in making this happen has been incredible!
Q: During the comprehensive evaluation, will faculty expect to have random evaluators approach us or observe classes? If so, what kind of information should we prepare to have at the front of our brains?
A: The HLC visiting team may request to observe classes and/or meet with students. Those classroom visits will be planned and on the agenda. Rest assured, a reviewer won’t randomly “pop in” to a class unannounced. Keep in mind that during the days of April 24-25, the team will be on campuses, walking through hallways and spaces throughout the college, asking students and employees about SCC.
There will be open sessions during the visit for all faculty to attend to share insight. The agenda will be finalized in the weeks before the visit. We plan to have open forum sessions to prepare faculty, staff, and the college community for the visit beginning in March.
Q: Some instructors struggle to get students to fill out course evaluations. Will this have a negative impact on us as instructors or on the college for this assessment?
A: I love this question! This is an excellent example of faculty and staff using data to inform changes in their courses, advising, or other areas of support services. The visiting team will be most interested in how we are using course evaluation feedback to improve, or strategies that we’re implementing to improve the response rate, rather than focusing on the exact number of responses. The response rate for evaluations over the past five years has been higher than 20% so that is a great baseline.
Q: It was mentioned that no one will be doing “surprise pop quiz” kind of questions during the visit, but will faculty be asked to come before the site visit team to answer questions?
A: All college employees should be familiar with the basic parts of the HLC’s criteria, be prepared to talk about the mission of Southeast Community College, and how you carry it out each day.
More information will be shared in March and April on potential questions that we could be asked in relation to the criteria for accreditation.
Q: How long after the Re-Accreditation review and site visit will we (faculty) learn the results?
A: We should know the results sometime in the summer 2023, and will let the College know as soon as possible. Following its visit, the team will prepare a report with its recommendation for action by an HLC decision-making body. The institution will have an opportunity to review the draft report for corrections to errors of fact. Errors of fact are statements in the report that are factually incorrect and can be demonstrated as such by evidence available to the team. Examples of this are typographical errors or other mistakes, such as incorrect enrollment numbers, job titles, etc.
The team may accept or decline any corrections provided by the institution. When the team submits its final report to HLC, the report will be shared with the institution again, and the institution will be invited to submit a response to the team’s findings and recommendations. The team report and the institution’s evaluation materials and response are sent to an HLC decision-making body for review and action. See HLC’s website for more information about the decision-making process.
