HLC's Recent Actions - Cont'd

Enjoy your time off, Chris! Hope you close out 2022 with a great time and welcome 2023 with great health!

 

It surprises me that Mitchell Hamline School of Law is not an RA accredited? I thought it is part of Hamline University? Also can law school achieve ABA accreditation without regional accreditation?

 

A brief look at some stand-alone law schools would seem to indicate "yes."

 

New year, new logo. I prefer the old HLC

 

I like the old one a LOT better. And as Steve says, someone got paid cash that could have been used on something useful. Double whammy.

 

January 2023 Actions
Full actions at: https://www.hlcommission.org/Students-Communities/january-2023-actions.html

Denial of Request for Change
Rocky Vista University, Parker, CO

• Denied the institution’s request to offer the Master of Physician Assistant Studies Program as a credit-based competency-based education program.

Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN

• Denied the institution’s request to expand distance education to courses and programs. The institution is approved to offer distance education courses and up to three programs.

Approval of Request for Change
MidAmerica Nazarene University, Olathe, KS

• Approved the institution’s request to offer an Undergraduate Certificate in Informatics as a credit-based competency-based education program (CIP Code: 11.0401 / Program Level: Undergraduate Certificate / Credit Hours: 18)
• Approved the institution’s request to offer Graduate Certificate in Transition to Teaching as a credit-based competency-based education program (CIP Code: 13.1205 / Program Level: Graduate Certificate / Credit Hours: 23)

Kuyper College, Grand Rapids, MI

• Approved the institution’s request to offer distance education courses and programs

Eden Theological Seminary, St. Louis, MO

• Approved the institution’s request for a change in the academic calendar, removing the January term and the addition of 8-week shortened courses within the established two 18-week semesters.

Northern New Mexico College, Espanola, NM

• Approved the institution’s request to change the length of term from 16 to eight weeks for courses in the Department of Arts & Human Science, Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences

Conception Seminary College, Conception, MO

• Approved the institution’s request to offer distance education courses and programs

Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Bartlesville, OK

• Approved the institution’s request to offer the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration as a credit-based competency-based education program (CIP Code: 52.0201 / Program Level: Bachelor / Credit Hours: 120)

Southwestern Christian University, Bethany, OK

• Approved the institution’s request to offer distance education courses and programs.

Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Milwaukee, WI

• Approved the institution’s request to offer distance education courses and programs

Bellin College, Green Bay, WI

• Approved the institution’s request to open an additional location: Bellin College, 2620 Development Drive, Green Bay, WI 54311

Northland College, Ashland, WI

• Approved the institution’s request to offer distance education courses and up to three programs.

Reaffirmation of Accreditation

University of Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ
Yavapai College, Prescott, AZ
Dordt University, Sioux Center, IA
Emmaus Bible College, Dubuque, IA
Barton County Community College, Great Bend, KS
Rochester University, Rochester Hills, MI
Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College, Mount Pleasant, MI
Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, MI
Capella University, Minneapolis, MN
United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, St. Paul, MN
Mid-Plains Community College, North Platte, NE
Metropolitan Community College, Omaha, NE
University of Akron, Akron, OH
The Athenaeum of Ohio, Cincinnati, OH
Capital University, Columbus, OH
Aultman College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Canton, OH
God’s Bible School and College, Cincinnati, OH
Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH

 

Wow. Times have changed since I was there 20 years ago. Back then, UoP was the largest university in the nation (in terms of enrollments), with about half online. (I never taught online for them.) They were the archetype for distance education (undeservedly, IMO), the McDonalds. If you knew of only one online school, it was probably UoP. (Again, even though their primary business was classroom-based.) People who wanted to make a joke or a dumb diploma mill comment would cite UoP.

And now they might just disappear.

I live in Phoenix and they have zero--ZERO--presence in the zeitgeist here. A new In-and-Out opening is far more newsworthy.

 

Wow, yeah, the end of an era. I also worked for them briefly in Tempe, but just for a few months as a QA engineer. I also taught online for their short-lived Canadian subsidiary. That was the only job I lost because the employer ceased to exist; even an unsuccessful startup in Ireland laid me off first, before folding in about 6 months or so.

 

Thats quite the buying spree; first Grantham, now UoP.

 

April 2023 Actions (distance/online only)
See full actions at: https://www.hlcommission.org/Students-Communities/april-2023-actions.html

Approval of Request for Change

Colorado Christian University, Lakewood, CO

• Approved the institution's request to offer the Doctorate of Philosophy in Counselor Education and Supervision (60 semester credit hours, CIP Code: 13.1101).

https://www.ccu.edu/ccu/counseling/counselor-education-and-supervision/

Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO

• Approved the institution's request to offer distance education courses and programs.

Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL

• Approved the institution’s request to offer distance education courses and up to three program

Trinity International University, Deerfield, IL

• Approved the institution’s request to offer correspondence education courses.

Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA

• Approved the institution’s request to offer distance education courses and programs.

McPherson College, McPherson, KS

• Approved the institution’s request to offer distance education courses and programs.

University of Minnesota Morris, Morris, MN

• Approved the institution’s request to offer distance education courses and programs.

William Woods University, Fulton, MO

• Approved the institution's request to offer the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Organizational Leadership* (54 credit hours, CIP Code: 52.0213).

*WWU's program website only makes reference to Ph.D. in Leadership. There's no "organizational."
https://www.williamwoods.edu/academics/online/graduate/doctorate_of_leadership.html

I will include the denials, though I don't know if these were supposed to be distance programs.

Denial of Request for Change

Alma College, Alma, MI

• Denied the institution's request to offer the Master of Public Health (36 credit hours, CIP Code: 51.2201).
• Denied the institution's request for a change in student body in relation to offering a third program at a new degree level.

Ohio Christian University, Circleville, OH

• Denied the institution's request to offer the Master of Arts in Psychology (36 semester hours, CIP Code: 42.0101).

United Theological Seminary, Dayton, OH

• Denied the institution's request to offer the Doctor of Theology (42 semester credit hours, CIP Code: 39.0601).

 

The denials are interesting. You almost think United Theological Seminary constructing an effective ThD program would be a no brainer (been around for 150 years) but apparently not.

 

June 2023 Actions (DL-related)
Full actions: https://www.hlcommission.org/Students-Communities/june-2023-actions.html

Approval of Request for Change

East Arkansas Community College, Forest City, AR

• Approved the institution’s request to offer correspondence education courses.

Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, IN

• Approved the institution's request to offer distance education courses and programs.

Southeast Missouri Hospital College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Cape Girardeau, MO

• Approved the institution's request to offer distance education courses and up to three programs.

Heidelberg University, Tiffin, OH

• Approved the institution's request to offer distance education courses and programs.

Hiram College, Hiram, OH

• Approved the institution's request to offer the Master's in Sports Management (36 semester credit hours, CIP Code 31.0504).

https://www.hiram.edu/academics/graduate-studies/master-of-arts-in-sport-management/

Glenville State University, Glenville, WV

• Approved the institution's request to offer the Master of Business Administration (36 credit hours, CIP Code 52.0201).

The program consists of 36 credit hours – 21 credit hours in the MBA core and 15 elective hours – using an accelerated eight-week format... International students are eligible to enroll in the hybrid program. https://www.glenville.edu/academics/graduate/programs/mba-program

Denial of Request for Change
The sole denial for June 2023...

Upper Iowa University, Fayette, IA

• Denied the institution’s request to offer the Master of Arts in Psychology.

 

August 2023 Actions: https://www.hlcommission.org/Students-Communities/august-2023-actions.html

Approval of Request for Change

Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ

• Approved the institution's request to offer the Doctor of Medical Science (24 credit hours, CIP Code 51.1401).

https://nau.edu/physician-assistant/doctor-of-medical-science/

Bradley University, Peoria, IL

• Approved the institution's request to offer the Doctorate of Occupational Therapy (105 credit hours, CIP Code 51.2306).

https://www.bradley.edu/academic/departments/ot/gradprograms/drot/

University of Evansville, Evansville, IN

• Approved the institution's request to offer the Doctor of Philosophy in Health Professions Education (44 credit hours, CIP Code 51.3202).

https://www.evansville.edu/majors/health-professions-education/index.cfm

Union Institute & University, Cincinnati, OH

• Approved the institution's Provisional Plan for students currently enrolled in the Master of Education in Montessori Integrative Learning and Master of Education in Integrative Learning, including the Teach-Out Arrangement with Lasell University (Newton, MA).

*I guess Union won't bounce back from its financial woes.

Worthy mention

Maricopa Community Colleges-GateWay Community College, Phoenix, AZ

• Approved the institution's request to offer the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (120 credit hours, CIP Code 51.3801).

I would like to see more community colleges offering bachelor's degrees. This is typical in Jamaica. They all offer 4-year degrees, and at least one offers graduate degrees (Excelsior Community College).

 

They canceled the Fall semester entirely. The experiment seems to be over.

 

How does that feel? I remember feeling a sense of pre-grief when Athabasca was circling the drain, though they turned it around.

I just assume that each school I attend will last forever (though it's absolutely possible that Quantic goes under.) It's weird to imagine attending a school that literally doesn't exist anymore, even though I've worked for an employer that permanently closed which should be very similar, yet feels different.

 

My feelings are on two separate planes.

As an alumnus, I feel a little bad, but no one ever asks where I went to school anyway. (Just in case, I would like to know where transcript requests will go.) I've been through this once before with the Regents External Degree Program. It's dead, too. (I don't have a thing to do with Excelsior and never have, except as a place to send....transcript requests.) No one cares about it being gone, either. (By the way, the transcripts they issue for Regents students like me are scans of the original Regents transcripts. It's not like they come out under Excelsior's brand name or anything.) I do know I feel nothing as it relates to the substance or meaningfulness of my degree.

On the other hand, I'm saddened that the source of two amazing post-secondary concepts is dying. The original Union was a consortium of schools that came together to explore nontraditional ways of conducting higher education. From it sprang the University Without Walls. This gave undergraduates opportunities to have a say in the design and conduct of their degree programs, and offered then-nontraditional ways of earning credit. UWWs were set up in many schools across the country, then slowly absorbed into their host institutions. The name 'UWW' carried on for awhile, but it is almost extinct now.

The other was, as UGS founder Roy Fairfield called it, Person-Centered Graduate Education. The opportunity for experienced learners to be at the center of their doctoral programs--design, delivery, and even evaluation--as their committees' chairs. Normally in higher education, the school determines what you will learn, how you will learn it, and how you will demonstrate your learning. But the UGS model gave all three of those to the learner himself or herself. It was a breathtaking concept and I'm glad I did my Union PhD "the old way." But that way largely died out 20 years ago when Union let the quality of learners' research get away from them--PhDs in just about anything. They found they had to kill the spirit of the school in order to save it. I doubt what is left today is even worth saving.

So, if it goes I'll be a little sad. But I won't attend (metaphorically) the funeral. They weren't going to come to mine, either.

 

Upon reflection, I'd like to add something.

I was trying to figure out why my PhD has meaning. There are two things. The first is just the title itself. Most people never look beyond that. They see 'PhD' or "Dr Rich Douglas" and look no further.

But the second thing, the thing that actually backs it all up, is my ability to talk about the process. If queried, I can speak substantially about not only my research, but the topic in general. Quantitative and qualitative methods, theory tested and theory creation, deductive and inductive approaches, big and little book doctorates, professional and scholarly, original contributions to scholarship and praxis, etc. There is just so much that makes doctoral study unique, utterly different than anything else (with a thesis-based master's coming close).

It's the difference between having done it and owning it.