UNK seeks public comments on renewing accreditation

Contact: Kenya Taylor
Office: 308.865.8500                                                          
email: taylorks@unk.edu

KEARNEY – University of Nebraska at Kearney seeks comments from the public in preparation for its upcoming evaluation by its accrediting body, the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

UNK will host a comprehensive on-site evaluation visit Nov. 4-6 by a team representing the Higher Learning Commission. Part of the process is allowing the public opportunity to make comments about UNK.

Anyone wanting to submit comments about UNK to the HLC can mail them, by Oct. 2, to:

Third-Party Public Comments on University of Nebraska Kearney
The Higher Learning Commission
230 S. LaSalle St., Suite 7-500
Chicago, IL 60604-1411

Comments may also be submitted at the Higher Learning Commission website:
http://www.ncahlc.org/Information-For-the-Public/third-party-comment.html.

UNK was founded as a two-year state-supported normal school in 1903 and accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in 1916. It became Nebraska State Teachers College at Kearney in 1921 with its four-year programs being fully accredited in 1923. Master’s level programs were accredited preliminarily in 1962 and fully in 1971. In 1963 the name of the institution became Kearney State College. Specialist degree accreditation was granted in 1976.

Upon the campus’s integration into the University of Nebraska, a new affiliation statement was approved in November 1991. The most recent decennial NCA review was completed in 2004.

UNK has been actively engaged in a process of self-study over the past two years, addressing the commission’s requests for information and criteria for examination. The evaluation team visit will gather evidence to support the self-study and receive guidance on their thorough evaluation. Following the visit and an extensive review process the Higher Learning Commission will take action.

-30-