Northern New Mexico College administrators said they were proud and excited by the notification by the Institutional Actions Council of the Higher Learning Commission, informing them that the College’s accreditation status has been continued, effective Aug. 19.
“What this does is strengthen the product that we provide,” interim president Domingo Sanchez said. “And that’s the use of Northern by people for their educational requirements.”
He said there were a lot of people involved, working hard in preparation for accreditation, from faculty to staff and administration. The accreditation has been extended until, or before, School Year 2025-26.
“This is a success for us,” interim provost Ivan Lopez-Hurtado said. “Accreditation is the most important process for an institution. This means that our students are eligible for financial aid. It also means the evaluators believe Northern offers a quality education that is comparable to many other institutions of higher learning.”
Individual department deans and administrators provided reports of exit interviews from accreditation visits to the Board of Regents, for the College of Education, Business, Engineering and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, at the April 28 meeting, following evaluator visits to the Española campus.
Former provost and vice president for academic affairs Pedro Martinez said that the individual colleges had been preparing for a visit by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education for several months.
Joaquin Vila, dean of the College of Education, said Northern was one of only two teacher preparation programs, that went up for accreditation with the Council. The other was the University of New Mexico.
Ellen Trabka, dean of College of Nursing and Health Sciences said the College’s registered nurse to bachelor of science program is up for a 10-year reaccreditation, after it achieved initial accreditation in 2011 and got five years — the maximum it could receive.
She said the program completed a site visit for accreditation and they are still awaiting the final determination from the evaluators.
“Not all programs are eligible for national accreditations,” she said. “But getting accredited means the programs have met national standards for quality education. Those are rigorous programs, so they enhance the status of the College and that’s what we all strive for.”
Lopez-Hurtado said the accreditation team conducted a comprehensive review of the College’s services, programs, faculty and finances and determined the institution was in good standing.
He said there are five criteria by which the College is evaluated:
• Mission: Which guides the institution
• Integrity: Ethical and respectful conduct
• Teaching and learning
• Resources, planning and institutional effectiveness
“They tell you if you pass or don’t pass,” Lopez-Hurtado said. “Sometimes you have to go into interim evaluation, but we passed the entire process and are in good shape.”
The interim provost said he did not see any problem with satisfying the first criteria, the College’s mission, which partly states Northern is a Native American and Hispanic-serving institution, despite administration’s recent decision to close down the Native American Indian Center.
“We are not denying any services,” he said. “The College is remodeling the area where students had access to computers and advisors. We just received notification from the Public Education Department, that the P’oE Pathways Grant is going to be renewed, so many of those services will continue. A director stepped down to become a faculty member, but we are still a Native American-serving institution.”
Sanchez said the grant had been slashed by half for the new year, and thus required the facility to close.
According to a letter sent to Sanchez by Commission officials, the College will have to submit an interim report due Dec. 1, 2017, detailing their handling of Title IV, federal financial aid programs, a plan to increase full-time faculty, and assessment of curricular and extra curricular outcomes.
Board of Regents President Rosario Garcia said she recently learned about the College’s approval for reaccreditation.
“I am elated,” she said. “We have a great team at the College. The deans and professors have all been working really hard from top to bottom and it’s great to see that we came out with flying colors.”
Garcia said Sanchez was keeping incoming President Rick Bailey informed of everything happening at the College.
She said Sanchez provides Bailey with weekly updates, including results of the Higher Learning Commission accreditation team’s review findings.