Oakland Community College’s institutional accreditation solid through 2029
The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) officially notified Oakland Community College (OCC) that the college has completed its Open Pathway Assurance Review and will continue to be an Accredited institution through 2029.
The Assurance Review is a standard review procedure the HLC performs during Year Four of a college’s 10-year accreditation cycle to ensure an institution is continuing to meet accreditation expectations. The HLC reaffirmed the College’s accreditation through 2029 in 2019.
In its notification of completion of the year-four review, the HLC commended OCC made great strides it in “building/restoring a sense of trust in leadership by ensuring that faculty and staff have a voice in governance, providing them access to the data they need to successfully fulfill their duties, increasing communication and transparency with all stakeholders, and significantly improving relationships with faculty, staff, and the community.”
OCC Chancellor Peter Provenzano said the results of this four-year Assurance Review is further affirmation that OCC continues to meet and exceed its mission to provide students with a high-quality education.
“The high praise OCC received on our four-year interim report with the HLC, particularly emphasizing the improvements made since the last accreditation site visit in 2019, shows that we are truly committed to continuous quality improvement, meaningful academic programming and shared governance in action,” said OCC Chancellor Peter Provenzano. “I want to thank everyone who was involved in this massive HLC process and the diligence they exhibited in helping the College achieve the passing of this year-four Assurance Review. It was a total team effort with representation from all areas of the College.”
Rachel Lathrop, director of Assessment, Accreditation and Quality at OCC and the College’s Accreditation Liaison Officer who oversees HLC accreditation processes for the College, said OCC couldn’t operate as a community college without HLC approval as attending an accredited college is important for students interested in transferring credits, pursuing advanced degrees or benefitting from federal financial aid.
“This rigorous HLC evaluation process requires a comprehensive review to assure a high level of excellence. I’m grateful the peer review team and HLC recognized all the hard work and improvements made at OCC over the last four years,” she added.
Total Team Effort Needed to Pass HLC Assurance Review
While the HLC 10-year reaffirmation requires an all-hands on deck effort, 37 faculty and staff were involved in OCC’s Steering Committee for the Year Four assurance review along with numerous other staff and faculty members who served on Criterion teams to help prepare for the review.
The HLC review encompassed five educational and institutional Criterion:
1. Mission
2. Integrity: Ethical and Responsible Conduct
3. Teaching and Learning: Quality, Resources and Support
4. Teaching and Learning: Evaluation and Improvement
5. Institutional Effectiveness: Resources and Planning
Faculty Member Ken Sigler, Computer Information Systems, was part of the HLC Steering Committee and team leader of the Criterion 3 team that focused on teaching and learning along with Dean of Academic Technology and Instructional Innovation Kayla LeBlanc.
“Our team met every month for nine months and was charged with reviewing the 2019 HLC report paragraph by paragraph and highlighting where OCC has made changes to improve various academic areas,” Sigler said. “But for every change we highlighted we also had to provide evidence to show what the change was and how it helped improve teaching or learning.”
Sigler said one of the big changes the team noted in the 2019 report was how OCC transitioned to remote classes as a result of the COVID pandemic and how the College continues to deliver more online options to meet the increased student demands.
“As a team, we set the standard of a process model used by the other criterion teams for highlighting and making edits to the 2019 HLC report, that represented changes that had taken place at the college, prior to evidence collection of those changes,” he added.
In addition to the HLC notifying OCC of the completion of its four-year review, Lathrop said it recently approved OCC’s Quality Improvement Initiative proposal which includes scaling co-requisite education in math and English.
“We are hopeful this initiative will further support our students in achieving their academic goals,“ added Lathrop.
About OCC
Oakland Community College offers nearly 100 degrees and certificates programs with the resources students need to be successful and advance our community. As a top transfer institution, OCC offers one of the state’s most affordable tuition rates and flexibility in scheduling with face-to-face and online options. The College is nationally recognized for its high-demand career training with expert faculty in their fields. More than 1 million students have enrolled in the College since it opened in 1965. Learn more at oaklandcc.edu.
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Media Contact: Marketing & Communications | (248) 341-2020 | contactus@oaklandcc.edu