Northern New Mexico College officials OK’d a move that would allow them to dedicate an entire college to its business program, following through on efforts toward obtaining a second academic accreditation.
Northern’s Board of Regents unanimously approved, Dec. 4, the establishment of the College of Business Administration at a Board meeting.
Northern Provost Pedro Martinez said the college will improve the institution’s academic commitment.
“Since Northern has adopted a standard structure in terms of college units, I seek the approval to make the change that would create consistent non-enclosure for Northern and would establish the College of Business as one of the four pillars of the institution,” Martinez said.
Formerly known as the Business and Administration Department, the college has been offering courses since 2007. By 2010, there were more than 100 students in the college, Martinez said.
According to its website, students can obtain a bachelor’s degree in business administration, as well as associates degrees in business administration and office administration from Northern. The college also offers various certification programs.
As a college, the business program’s faculty is housed at Northern’s Johnson Controls Building.
Despite general enthusiasm about the venture, some Northern officials expressed concern regarding the college’s accreditation.
“I’m not sure that we’re going to make it retroactive like with the College of Engineering,” Northern President Nancy Barceló said. “I’m not sure what the rationale is for that. I do know that there are issues in terms of accreditation.”
Through retroactive accreditation, agencies allow students who recently graduated from a college, before it obtained accreditation, to have their degrees accredited, Northern Vice President for Institutional Advancement Ricky Serna said.
Serna said Northern is currently seeking a second accreditation for its business program from the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs, a national agency.
“We’re already accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, but there are some graduate programs or employers who prefer that the actual degree is accredited by the body,” he said. “We’re excited about doing that.”
Serna said the establishment of the college will make it easier for Northern officials to achieve the program accreditation they’re seeking.
“Now that we’re a college officially, that doesn’t really do anything with our graduates,” he said. “It helps the accrediting process for the College of Business. It shows the institution is in support of the college.”
Serna expects Northern to obtain the accreditation by the end of the 2016 school year. He said he is optimistic Association officials will grant retroactive accreditation going back to at least last school year.
The establishment of the college will attract local students to Northern by raising the reputation of the school’s business program, Serna said. He said an accredited business school will make the institution comparable to bigger universities in the state, such as Albuquerque’s University of New Mexico, which hosts the Anderson School of Business.
“(Northern’s business program) is the largest department per academic program in this institution,” he said. “It’s drawing the interest, both in associates degrees and bachelors degrees, of the regional population.”
Northern officials will work to establish the accreditation throughout the next year, Martinez said. Like Serna, he said he is optimistic about receiving retroactively accredited degrees.
“We are coming off four accreditations within a year, both for the bachelor’s and the associates degrees,” Martinez said. “It’s not uncommon for institutions to be able to retroactively give the accreditation to students.”
The College of Business Administration is the fourth college established at Northern.
The other three are the College of Nursing, the College of Education and the College of Engineering.