KCC Meets Accreditation Benchmarks

(Press Release From Kellogg Community College)

Kellogg Community College is pleased to announce that the Higher Learning Commission, an accrediting body of colleges and universities, has determined that KCC has met all benchmarks during a recent review of the College's progress since the last full accreditation visit in 2011-12.

In a written report submitted to the College on Jan. 25, 2016, the HLC rated KCC as having met all components of the "Open Pathway Mid-Cycle Assurance Review" and that no follow-up actions by the College nor the HLC are required. The 47-page review noted many of KCC's strengths, including:

• The College responds to the communities it serves by offering specialized training and workforce development through its Regional Manufacturing Technology Center
• The College's faculty members are "remarkably active" in publishing and presenting research
• The Board of Trustees has demonstrated a willingness to engage its community.

"This positive feedback from our primary accrediting organization affirms that KCC, which is in the midst of significant transitions in leadership and strategy, is heading in the right direction," President Mark O'Connell said. "Earning the HLC's approval is another feather in our cap as we continue to pursue excellence in the ways we serve and educate our students."

KCC's last comprehensive self-study and site visit occurred in 2011-12, after which the HLC required the College to submit a progress report in late 2015 as part of the "Open Pathway Mid-Cycle Assurance Review." That 99-page progress report, known as an "assurance argument," was developed over the past year by a team of educators, researchers, writers and editors at the College. The purpose of the report was to describe in detail how KCC's mission, operations and outcomes are in alignment with the HLC's accreditation standards.

KCC has been continually accredited by the HLC and its predecessor, the North Central Association, since 1965. Formerly, the College was engaged in a re-accreditation process once every 10 years, but in recent years the HLC has modified its system to create additional monitoring opportunities for accredited educational institutions.

KCC's next comprehensive self-study and site visit is expected to occur during the 2021-22 academic year.

The Higher Learning Commission is an independent corporation founded in 1895 as one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States. HLC accredits degree-granting post-secondary educational institutions in the North Central region, which includes Michigan and 18 other states.