One of the biggest issues that the ASFLC Student Government will be facing next semester is Fort Lewis College’s reaccreditation process.

Student Body President Alex Thompson said, “2015 is HLC’s visit to Fort Lewis College to reauthorize our accreditation. The last time the school was accredited was in 2005, and the practices are very different in this new generation.”

The HLC or Higher Learning Commission is an independent corporation and one of two commission members of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, which is one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States. The Higher Learning Commission accredits degree-granting post-secondary educational institutions in the North Central region.

Changes In Accreditation Process

The new generation of accreditation is about proving what your school has to offer on a metric format.

“In the old days you could describe what your college had to offer in a qualitative sense, but now they want to have the numbers behind that.  They want to see that you’re really achieving student learning from a numbered standpoint,” Thompson said.

The HLC wants to see everything from retention rates, the number of students that default on their student loans and GPA metrics as relative to other schools and similar institutions, he said.

Importance in Student Participation

This quantitative overview of the college is going to be hard on the administration, Thompson said.

There is a lot that the administration is going to be doing for the student forefront to make sure that we look good for the re-accreditation, he said.

“The students needs to make sure that they are a part of that process as well so that they have a say in the identity of their school,” Thompson said.

Thompson said, “The accreditation process ultimately comes down to what is the vision of this school.”

To find out more about the HLC, go to their website at http://www.ncahlc.org/