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Harrisburg University of Science and Technology had its accreditation reaffirmed by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Photo provided by Harrisburg University
(Jeffrey Totaro)
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology had its accreditation reaffirmed by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
The private university had been on probation since June 2014 after failing to show it had the necessary financial resources to support its programs. It also was found to be lacking policies and procedures to evaluate and improve student learning.
But the accrediting commission voted last Thursday to place the school back in good standing until 2021, a spokesman confirmed. A letter confirming that decision was received by the school on Tuesday.
By having its accreditation reaffirmed, commission spokesman Richard Pokrass said it means the school has earned the commission's stamp of approval in complying with all 14 of its standards that cover all aspects of an institution's operation.
Harrisburg University President Eric Darr described his reaction to this news in four words "exciting, relieved, about time."
He said being on probation harmed the school in several ways.
"We've had kids and their families say we're not going to send our child there because you're on probation. Graduate students were saying they weren't coming back because I believe your accreditation is going to be pulled. We've had donors not support the university because of the uncertainty," Darr said. "It absolutely hurt the university over the years."
Addressing the areas of non-compliance that the commission identified was the university's top priority, he said. University officials submitted five reports to the commission and hosted Middle States teams during two on-site visits to demonstrate the progress they had made.
The university built up its enrollment from 500 students in 2013 to 3,100 full-time graduate and undergraduate students today, which did wonders for its institutional resources, Darr said. Most of the growth occurred by attracting international graduate students.
"What we've told people is you can question our financial situation and whether we assess student learning but nobody ever questioned the quality of our program," Darr said. "We have high-quality programs. People graduate and get jobs and as a graduate student, that's what you want."
To address the commission's concern about the school's assessment of student learning, Darr said the university put in place new processes and did professional development for its 32 full-time faculty and about 100 corporate faculty. It hired some full-time people and consultants to assist.
"It takes time. It takes commitment," he said. "Our faculty at the university should be commended. Their first and foremost job is teaching and student success but they embraced putting in new student learning processes. And they were the ones who had to provide data and share with Middle States that this is what we're doing in the classroom."
Darr admits the process was "painful" and time-consuming, but in the end, worth it.
"I would definitely say it made us grow up and grow up faster and we're a much better, stronger university because of it," he said. "As much as it pains me to admit it, it's true."