Adams State University has received a second strong recommendation that the sanction of probation be removed by the Higher Learning Commission when it meets in June to review Adams State’s case.
ASU Interim President Matt Nehring alerted the campus to the positive news Thursday after the university received the recommendation from the Institutional Actions Council (IAC). Nehring presented Adams State’s case to the IAC at a hearing in Chicago in April.
"As the semester draws to a close, it is my pleasure to share the positive news we received today in a letter from the Higher Learning Commission," Nehring said in a message to the ASU campus. "We received the IAC report and they concur with all recommendations made by the HLC Site Team – most importantly that the sanction of probation be removed. It is important to note that this, too, is only a recommendation. Both the final report from the Site Team and the IAC report will now be sent to the full HLC Board for consideration."
The Higher Learning Commission can adopt the recommendations provided to them, with or without modifications, or it can adopt a different recommendation. "While the final outcome remains to be determined by the HLC Board," Nehring said, "we are buoyed by the news and our cautious optimism continues."
The Higher Learning Commission will take up Adams State’s case at its board meeting June 28-29. Distance Education concerns were the primary reason Adams State was placed on probation in March 2016 by the HLC, which is one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States. Since then, the university has undergone a thorough examination of all of its distance-learning programs and processes, and now believes it is a stronger, more focused and more effective university as a result of how it has addressed and tackled head-on the concerns of the Higher Learning Commission.
Adams State moves into Finals Week for its spring semester starting Tuesday, with its spring commencement scheduled for Saturday, May 12. The spring commencement will see the first doctoral degrees awarded in the school’s history.
