One of the goals we are giving careful attention to these days is that “Luther Seminary will be a responsive learning organization strengthened by a culture of assessment and accountability.” Important work has been done in the last two years to strengthen our teaching and learning—including launching a new curriculum—and to ensure a sustainable future.
A key way for us to know how we are doing against that goal is to hear from other institutions. Usually, we get the chance for deep engagement with colleagues from peer institutions about every 10 years. That opportunity is quickly approaching. The Association of Theological Schools (ATS) and the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central States (HLC) will be on campus during the last week of February and the first week of March. The two organizations will look at a number of things.
ATS serves as our professional accreditor. It is keenly interested not only in our compliance with federal regulatory requirements but also in encouraging institutional improvement in two broad areas: general institutional matters such as mission, planning, enrollment services, board matters, faculty policies and the library; and educational and degree program standards, including all our degree and certificate programs. (For a look at the standards to which we are held, visit the ATS website.) I know this world well, as I just completed a six-year term on the ATS Commission on Accreditation, which makes the final determination on accreditation for all 260-plus schools in North America.
HLC serves as a regional accreditor, overseeing all institutions of higher learning in the Midwest. Compliance with regulatory requirements is central to the HLC, though institutional improvement through the peer review process is an added benefit.
Why does accreditation matter? Accreditation provides paths for faculty and leadership development; students to receive federal student loans (Title IV); external validation of the quality of our faculty, educational programs, governance and institutional quality. HLC accreditation, in addition to what is noted for ATS, also ensures that students in our M.A. programs have direct access to Ph.D. programs at other regionally accredited schools.
A team of faculty, students, staff and board members have been at work for two years preparing for these visits. We also are eager for your feedback and counsel as we work at being a responsive learning organization.
We are finalizing each of the accreditor documents, which briefly describe our seminary and analyze the results of enormous amounts of data used in our planning and assessment processes. I invite you to review the draft documents and then offer any comments you may have by emailing selfstudy@luthersem.edu.