It was good to read that the SEARK brass are getting busy with their plans to regain the college’s accreditation. We expected nothing less.
In June, the Higher Learning Commission slapped a two-year accreditation probation on the campus, just a few months after the departure of outgoing president Steven Bloomberg.
Bloomberg, who had already moved on to his next job, sent a 300-page document to the HLC refuting the commission’s findings, saying the college had “more than demonstrated it met all the criteria and provided more than enough evidence” to keep its accreditation. But apparently that effort was to no avail.
The HLC cited the college for falling short of three accreditation requirements: persistence, retention and completion outcomes; effective governance and administrative structures; and systematic and integrated planning and improvement. Those findings would seem to represent a fairly wide chasm of shortfalls, but Donna Hunnicutt is putting her full energy into fixing the problems and says she’s not letting up until the job is done.
Hunnicutt is the college’s vice president of instruction who was hired Oct. 1. She told the board at a meeting last week that the HLC was coming back about this time next year for a comprehensive campus visit.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“I guarantee it won’t be ‘We’re taking your accreditation away,'” Hunnicutt said. “It’s going to be fast and a whirlwind. We’re chucking the baby out of the bathwater and we’re getting into a clean tub.”
New SEARK President Tyrone Jackson said the college got dinged on a limited number of issues.
“Basically, there are four or five standards with criteria, and those standards have been revised,” he told the board. And even though Jackson said his team is focused on the areas that were initially flagged, “we’re dotting all the i’s and crossing all the t’s” to make sure nothing else crops up on the HLC revisit. Getting back into the HLC’s good graces is a must, he said.
The HLC has indeed gotten everyone’s attention. And now the campus has a year to get ready for another visit. There is a grinding amount of work associated with any accreditation visit. But the stakes will be higher come November 2025, given the current situation. It’s encouraging to hear that the new SEARK administration is already gearing up for the fight.