General Institutional Requirements
An institution affiliated with the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools meets the following General Institutional Requirements:
Mission
- It has a mission statement, formally adopted by the governing board and made public, declaring that it is an institution of higher education.
- It is a degree-granting institution.
Authorization
- Is has legal authorization to grant its degrees, and it meets all the legal requirements to operate as an institution of higher education wherever it conducts its activities.
- It has legal documents to confirm its status; not-for-profit, for-profit, or public.
Governance
- It has a governing board that possesses and exercises necessary legal power to establish and review basic policies that govern the institution.
- Its governing board includes public members and is sufficiently autonomous from the administration and ownership to assure the integrity of the institution.
- It has an executive officer designated by the governing board to provide administrative leadership for the institution.
- Its governing board authorizes the institution's affiliation with the Commission.
Faculty
- It employs a faculty that has earned from accredited institutions the degrees appropriate to the level of instruction offered by the institution.
- A sufficient number of the faculty are full-time employees of the institution.
- Its faculty has a significant role in developing and evaluating all of the institution's educational programs.
Educational Program
- It confers degrees.
- It has degree programs in operation, with students enrolled in them.
- Its degree programs are compatible with the institution's mission and are based on recognized fields of study at the higher education level.
- Itsdegrees are appropriately named, following practices common to institutions of higher education in terms of both length and content of the programs.
- Its undergraduate degree programs include a coherent general education requirement consistent with the institution's mission and designed to ensure breadth of knowledge and to promote intellectual inquiry.
- It has admission policies and practices that are consistent with the institution's mission and appropriate to its educational programs.
- It provides its students access to those learning resources and support services for its degree programs.
Finances
- It has an external financial audit by a certified public accountant or a public audit agency at least every two years.
- Its financial documents demonstrate the appropriate allocation and use of resources to support its educational programs.
- Its financial practices, records, and reports demonstrate fiscal viability.
Public Information
- Its catalog or other official documents includes its mission statement along with accurate descriptions of its educational programs and degree requirements; its learning resources; its admissions policies and practices; its academic and non-academic policies and procedures directly affecting students; its charges and refund policies; and the academic credentials of its faculty and administrators.
- It accurately discloses its standing with accrediting bodies with which it is affiliated.
- It makes available upon request information that accurately describes its financial condition.
The Commission provides a fuller explanation of its expectations for each GIR through an accompanying explication, published in the Handbook of Accreditation, available from the Commission office.
From: http://www.ncahlc.org
For questions, click here to contact one of the Self-study co-chairs Linda Elliott-Nelson or Bryan Doak.
Or Call: (928) 344-7617 or (928) 344-7516
