News
Luna to host forums in advance of HLC visit
Campus community welcome to attend
By Dave Kavanaugh
Students, faculty, staff and members of the community are invited to a series of informational forums as Luna Community College prepares for a site visit by its accrediting agency, the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
A team of reviewers from the HLC is scheduled to visit the Las Vegas campus March 25-27. At stake is Luna’s accreditation, which was upgraded from show-cause status to probation this past summer. The college has been working on required assurance arguments that address issues raised by the original show-cause order in advance of the HLC site visit. Reviewers will meet with various campus constituencies over two days and make a recommendation as to Luna’s accreditation status. The HLC will make its final determination by November.
With all that in mind, Luna is hosting the following informational forums to engage and inform everyone as each is focused on different aspects of the college’s operations (and the criteria considered in accreditation). Each forum will be held twice to allow for more participation. All forums will be held at the LCC Nursing Auditorium in the Allied Health Building.
The schedule:
- Criterion 1, Mission, & Criterion 2, Integrity, Ethical and Responsible Conduct (forum led by staff) Wednesday, Feb. 27, 11 a.m. to noon and 2 to 3 p.m.
- Criterion 5, Resources, Planning and Institutional Effectiveness (forum led by staff and administration) Friday, March 1, 11 a.m. to noon and 2 to 3 p.m.
- Criterion 3, Teaching and Learning: Quality, Resources and Support, & Criterion 4, Evaluation and Improvement (forum led by faculty) Friday, March 8, 11 a.m. to noon and 2 to 3 p.m.
Additionally, a forum designed specifically to update Luna students will be held.
Luna, which is the only community college in northeastern New Mexico, has been accredited by the HLC since 1982. The college was issued a show-cause order by the HLC in November 2017. Luna administration and employees worked to remedy and correct issues of non-compliance cited in the order, and in July 2018, the order was lifted, with the college placed on probationary status. The period of probation is up to two years.
More information on Luna’s accreditation can be accessed via the HLC website, hlcommission.org.