By RAEGAN NEUFELD
Tiger Media Network
On Thursday, the Student Government Association heard from the assistant provost for academic affairs, Angela Pool-Funai, about the current accreditation review and what they can expect as the university moves forward.
Fort Hays State University undergoes an accreditation review process every 10 years, done by the Higher Learning Commission. A report, which university officials have been working on since June 2022, will be submitted to the HLC at the end of this month and will be followed by a campus visit from five peer reviewers Oct. 30 and 31.
“There’s so much coming up this semester that I really want you to be prepared to know about and to participate in,” Pool-Funai told senators at the meeting, which was moved to the morning due to the first home football game.
According to Pool-Funai, the HLC’s criteria for accreditation include the university’s mission, integrity, teaching and learning and effectiveness. The university’s federal compliance is also looked at, to make sure policies and procedures are public and transparent. Each of the criteria is addressed in the university’s report.
“In addition to that narrative, everything has to have evidence,” Pool-Funai said. “If we say we assess student learning, we have to provide evidence that shows that. Reports, websites, policies and different things demonstrate to HLC that we do what we say we’re going to do.”
Pool-Funai also noted she requested open forum times for students and faculty with the peer reviewers when they’re on campus.
“It’s really important that students show up,” she said. “These site visitors are coming to learn about us, about how you feel your experience is going here at Fort Hays. Do you feel like you’re being supported? Do you feel like you have a chance to be involved in the campus? Your investment here at this university matters. Your time and effort matters. That’s our chance to tell, to tell our story.”
More information about the open forums will be shared campus-wide once the schedule is approved.
In other news, SGA President Ella Burrows reported that intent-to-run forms for freshmen elections are still open on TigerLink. The deadline was pushed back to Sept. 15 so more freshmen have the opportunity to run in the election.
Burrows also discussed a potential affiliation committee with the student governments from North Central Kansas Technical College and Northwest Kansas Technical College. In a previous interview with Tiger Media Network, Burrows said the collaboration will provide a way for the institutions to learn from each other and further the affiliation.
The next SGA meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sept. 14 in the Black and Gold Room.