After two years of preparation and a visit by an inspection team from the Higher Learning Commission, Fort Lewis College has been reaccredited for another decade.
“It’s really tied to quality of the education, innovation and the ability of students to receive federal financial aid,” said FLC Provost Barbara Morris, who led the five teams that prepared for the site visit in October. The reaccreditation is in effect until 2025.
Pell Grants, named for Sen. Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island, are provided to students with financial need who are studying for their first bachelor’s degrees or a few designated post-baccalaureate degrees. Unlike student loans, they do not need to be paid back.
FLC students receive between $5.1 and $5.2 million annually in Pell Grants, said Michele Peterson, associate vice president for finance and administration. That comes to about 7.3 percent of FLC’s revenue.
The commission asks the college to look at five areas: mission; integrity – ethical and responsible conduct; teaching and learning – quality, resources and support; teaching and learning – evaluation and improvement; and resources, planning and institutional effectiveness.
Five teams that included faculty, students, staff and community members evaluated the individual areas.
“It used to be that every 10 years you made yourself look pretty,” Morris said. “But that has changed since the Spellings Commission, and now it’s not something you just do every 10 years, you have to show that the quality of education and innovation are areas where you are constantly improving, and you can’t kind of slack off between accreditations.”
The Spellings Commission on the Future of Higher Education was called by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to evaluate America’s colleges and universities as to their readiness and effectiveness for the 21st century. In its 2006 report, the commission charged colleges to be more entrepreneurial and innovative.
The reaccreditation process uncovered areas FLC needs to work on and items that must be addressed in its new strategic plan, a process underway and scheduled to be complete in 2017, Morris said.
“We uncovered a variety of strengths Fort Lewis has,” she said, “and now we need to think about how to capitalize on them in the strategic plan. Our last plan was mostly tactical, looking at advising, tutorials, guided pathways, taking away hurdles for students so they can be on a good solid path.”
Among the strategies included in the plan were the student-success coaches and other initiatives added to the school’s student-support systems.
“A lot of indicators show it’s working,” Morris said. “More students are taking a full 15-credit course load, more have signed up for the ‘Finish in Four,’ more are following those plans and staying and retaining. For other programs, it’s too early to tell.”
The next strategic plan will have a different focus, she said.
“We’ll be looking at the long-range future, 10 to 20 years out,” Morris said.