CMU up for reaccreditation in April
Central Michigan University Provost Michael Gealt speaks with faculty and students at the Academic Senate meeting on Oct. 6 in Pearce Hall.
In April 2016, a team from the Higher Learning Commission will perform a comprehensive evaluation of Central Michigan University to reaffirm its accreditation status.
CMU was last accredited during the 2005-06 academic year. The review has many components, including a confirmation that our university is following Federal policies and will judge the university on a set five criteria relating to student success.
Provost Michael Gealt delivered findings from an Education Advisory Board report. He said there has not been a significant increase in the six-year graduation rate during the last five to 10 years, and to increased student success, faculty needs to be involved in finding ways to engage students.
"We are seeing people, governments not wanting to support higher education because they are looking at how much more you will earn after you get your degree," Gealt said. "We are the experts that need to go out there and tell people what good comes from students in higher education. This is where the rubber hits the road and we can have some real influence (on student success)," Gealt said.
Department of Political Science and Public Administration Faculty Member James Hill said the increase of undergraduate students taking courses online has affected his ability to impact students. Hill said he has had difficulty with students interacting with him outside of online discussion boards, and said it is harder to form a relationship online.
Hill said larger class sizes has also made it more difficult to get to know students more intimately.
"If you are encouraging (faculty) to get engaged with students, those two factors make it more difficult to develop a personal relationship that might help students," he said. "I teach online courses a lot and the most difficult thing to do is when (students) ask you for a helpful assessment. If your encouragement for faculty to get more engaged in larger it is more difficult."
Finalist interviews for an open Deputy Chief Information Officer position ended last week and an offer was extended to one of the candidates. Candidates for a Chief Information Security Officer Position will visit campus in open meetings on the week of Oct. 12.
Gealt also announced a $350,687 grant from the National Institutes of Health awarded to Department of Biology Faculty Member Xantha Karp. Karp is working on a project titled "Stem Cell Multipotency During Quiescence.”
CMU was also recently awarded $10 million to continue research and lead efforts to protect and restore coastal wetlands vital to the overall health of the Great Lakes.
President George Ross was unable to attend the meeting, but will submit his report to the senate electronically. Full reports submitted by the president and provost at each Academic Senate meeting can be found online at cmich.edu/academicsenate
Senators approved a new ENS designator for environmental science courses and the TEC designator was removed from technology courses.
