Higher Learning Commission

Linking the Foundations of Excellence® and Accreditation in
Higher Learning Commission Institutions

Since 2003-04, 197 institutions have participated in the Foundations of Excellence® (FoE) in the First College Year self-study process. Of these institutions, 90 are in the North Central region and are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). The Higher Learning Commission makes it possible to link the Foundations of Excellence self study with the reaffirmation of accreditation process for both its PEAQ and AQIP institutions.

PEAQ and Foundations of Excellence®
The HLC Program to Evaluate and Advance Quality (PEAQ) is an accreditation process that involves an institutional self study addressing the five criteria for accreditation. Of the 90 FoE/HLC institutions 65 are currently PEAQ participants. PEAQ institutions have the option of including a Special Emphasis on an area of critical importance to the institutional mission in the self study. The Special Emphasis becomes the focus of the campus improvement and HLC consultation part of the self-study and accreditation review. Since a Special Emphasis on the First Year of College became an option in 2005, six FoE/HLC institutions have pursued this option. These institutions are in different stages within this joint self-study process. Three institutions were part of the 2005-06 FoE National Select Cohort; each had a successful re-accreditation visit, two in 2007-08 and the third 2008-09. One institution participated in FoE in 2007-08 and had its HLC visit in 2008-09. Two institutions embarked on the joint self-study process in 2008-09; both are preparing for HLC visits in 2010-11.     

AQIP and Foundations of Excellence®
The Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) is structured around quality improvement principles. AQIP institutions produce a Systems Portfolio addressing nine categories and continually engage in improvement through Action Projects. Twenty-five FoE institutions are AQIP participants, some of these institutions were admitted to AQIP after their FoE participation. Between 2003-04 and 2009-10, 19 AQIP institutions completed the FoE process. For two of the early FoE institutions, Missouri Western State University and Ohio University, FoE was a component of an AQIP Action Project. Two recent participants, Western Iowa Technical Community College and Northwest Missouri State University, selected FoE as an approach to accomplishing their AQIP project goal of analyzing and refining their first-year experience. Nine institutions have used FoE action plan recommendations as the basis of one or more AQIP Action Projects. One of those institutions aligned the Foundational Dimensions® with the nine categories of the Systems Portfolio as a part of their initial portfolio development. Another institution has a proposal to its internal governance structure to base the institution’s next three AQIP Action Projects on recommendations from the FoE self study. In the 2010-11 there are six AQIP institutions that are engaged in a Foundations of Excellence self study.

  
Detailed information on the Joint Project between the Higher Learning Commission/ NCA and the John N. Gardner Institution for Excellence in Undergraduate Education is available on the HLC website.

Recent Events

114th Annual Meeting of NCA/The Higher Learning Commission
Saturday, April 17-21, 2009
Chicago, Illinois

2009 FoE Poster Fair Photo Gallery. Several representatives from FoE/HLC campuses submitted posters for display at this year's annual meeting. Click here to view the 2009 FoE Poster Fair Photo Gallery.

A Compelling Action-Project Option to Improve New Student Success. During this session at the 2009 AQIP Colloquium administrators from three AQIP campuses discussed why they chose to participate in Foundations of Excellence and to connect that with their AQIP Action Projects. The participants included Ali O'Brien from College of Lake County, Kevin Li from Wilber Wright College, and Chad Brown from Zane State College. The presentation from Wilber Wright College illustrates why they chose to participate and the relationship between the AQIP Categories and the Foundational Dimensions ® . CLICK HERE to download this PowerPoint presentation.

Fourth Annual Foundations of Excellence® Winter Meeting
February 6, 2009
Orlando, Florida  

Roundtable Discussion: FoE & Reaccreditation:  A Successful Marriage or Strange Bedfellows?

A panel of presenters from five different institutions described how their institutions connected (or are connecting) reaccreditation with Foundations of Excellence. Panelists represented both two- and four-year institutions and work with multiple accrediting organizations.  Panelists discussed the process involved, from start to finish, along with its challenges of completing the necessary self-studies for both FoE and reaccreditation in an attempt to bring useful change to our schools. CLICK HERE to download this PowerPoint presentation.

From the Ground Up: FoE Institutions
Improve the First College Year!
2008 HLC/FoE Poster Fair

This multi-faceted exhibit, sponsored by the Commission and the Policy Center on the First Year of College, featured the creative work of representative campuses drawn from a larger cohort of HLC institutions that have been engaging in the Foundations of Excellence® self-study and planning activities focused on improving the foundation of undergraduate education-- the first college year. Click here to view the 2008 HLC/FoE Poster Fair Photo Gallery.
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HLC Institutions Lead the Way:
Striving for the Common Good in the First College Year

2007 HLC/FoE Poster Fair
Please click here to view the 2007 Poster Fair photo gallery.

Steve Crow, former Executive Director of The Higher Learning Commission/NCA, was a featured speaker at the 2007 Maintaining the Momentum: Foundations of Excellence conference hosted by Oakton Community College and University of Wisconsin Colleges.

Click here to read his address: Maintaining Focus through the Challenges of Accountability.