Reaffirmation 2019
A team of Peer Reviewers from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) conducted a comprehensive review of the University of Iowa during spring 2019, culminating in a site visit on March 25-26.
Following their review and site visit, the team recommended reaffirming the university’s accreditation status.
The visit consisted of meetings and interviews with representatives of university leadership and shared governance, open forum sessions for members of the university community, and an extensive review of materials submitted by the university prior to the site visit.
Leadership and Shared Governance Meetings
During the visit, peer reviewers will met with representatives of university leadership and shared governance, including:
- Academic Advising
- Admissions
- Associate Deans and Directors
- Board of Regents
- Charter Committee on Diversity
- Council of Deans
- Distance and Online Education
- Faculty Council
- Finance and Operations
- Financial Aid
- Graduate and Professional Student Government (GPSG)
- Information and Resource Management
- Office of Assessment
- Office of the President
- Office of the Provost
- Office of the Registrar
- Path Forward Steering Committee
- Staff Council
- University of Iowa Student Government (UISG)
- Vice President for Human Resources
- Vice President for Student Life
Reviewers also held a series of Open Forum sessions with members of the university community.
Site Visit Materials
One month before the site visit, the peer review team received a copy of the Assurance Argument, a 100-page document prepared by the university to demonstrate the ways in which the university meets each of HLC's five criteria for accreditation.
Peer reviewers are able to access the Assurance Argument within HLC’s secure electronic portfolio system, which also gives them access to approximately 9000 pages of supporting materials provided by the university as evidence for the claims made in the argument.
Copies of the site visit materials are available for members of the university community:
- Assurance Argument (100 pages)
- Executive Summary of the Assurance Argument (2 pages)
- Summary of the Site Visit Team Report (2 pages)
Site Visit Preparation
The participation of the campus community was essential to preparation for the accreditation review. In the months leading up to the site visit, faculty, staff, and students throughout the university provided materials and documentation for the Assurance Argument, Evidence File, and Federal Compliance Review, and also participated in Feedback Forum sessions to provide input on drafts of the materials that were assembled. Hundreds of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students responded to the Student Opinion Survey, and members of the community on and off campus were invited to respond to Opportunities for Public Comment.
Tanya Uden-Holman, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education, serves as Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO) and primary contact person for UI communication with the Higher Learning Commission. Preparation of the 2019 Assurance Argument and Evidence File was coordinated by Wayne Jacobson, Kris Yows, and Javiera Romero, Office of the Provost, and by Rebecca Blair, Faculty Fellow for Accreditation in the Office of the Provost and Associate Professor of Instruction in Rhetoric.