Summer symposium recap - The new accreditation process

Diane Nyhammer was the key note speaker at MCC’s summer symposium on student learning held on July 8 at MCC-Penn Valley.  Nyhammer, a Higher Learning Commission mentor and provost/chief academic officer at Rock Valley College in Rockford, Illinois, discussed the new accreditation program called Open Pathway through the North Central Association Higher Learning Commission (HLC). 

MCC was invited to participate in Open Pathways because of strong past performance on the previous two accreditation visits.  The new accreditation process has multiple dimensions and will allow MCC to initiate a major project to help meet accreditation obligations.

The project undertaken by MCC involves assessment of student learning through discipline outcomes and simplification and assessment of student learning of general education outcomes.  The project will enable MCC to collect necessary data for improving student learning and raise awareness of and participation in assessment of student learning at all levels of the institution.  Over 70 MCC faculty and staff participated in the symposium and provided input on specific aspects of the student learning assessment project.