HLC’s Open Pathway & Criteria for Accreditation

1. Ohio University’s mission was developed through a process suited to the context of Ohio University.
2. Ohio University’s mission and related statements are current and reference the Ohio University’s emphasis on the various aspects of its mission, such as instruction, scholarship, research, application of research, creative works, clinical service, public service, economic development and religious or cultural purpose.
3. Ohio University’s mission and related statements identify the nature, scope and intended constituents of the higher education offerings and services Ohio University provides.
4. Ohio University’s academic offerings, student support services and enrollment profile are consistent with its stated mission.
5. Ohio University clearly articulates its mission through public information, such as statements of purpose, vision, values, goals, plans or institutional priorities.

1. Ohio University’s actions and decisions demonstrate that its educational role is to serve the public, not solely the institution or any superordinate entity.
2. Ohio University’s educational responsibilities take primacy over other purposes, such as generating financial returns for investors, contributing to a related or parent organization, or supporting external interests.
3. Ohio University engages with its external constituencies and responds to their needs as its mission and capacity allow.

1. Ohio University encourages curricular or cocurricular activities that prepare students for informed citizenship and workplace success.
2. Ohio University’s processes and activities demonstrate inclusive and equitable treatment of diverse populations.
3. Ohio University fosters a climate of respect among all students, faculty, staff and administrators from a range of diverse backgrounds, ideas and perspectives.

1. Ohio University develops and the governing board adopts the mission.
2. Ohio University operates with integrity in its financial, academic, human resources and auxiliary functions.

1. Ohio University ensures the accuracy of any representations it makes regarding academic offerings, requirements, faculty and staff, costs to students, governance structure and accreditation relationships.
2. Ohio University ensures evidence is available to support any claims it makes regarding its contributions to the educational experience through research, community engagement, experiential learning, religious or spiritual purpose and economic development.

1. The Board of Trustees is trained and knowledgeable so that it makes informed decisions with respect to the institution’s financial and academic policies and practices; the board meets its legal and fiduciary responsibilities.
2. The Board of Trustees’ deliberations reflect priorities to preserve and enhance the institution.
3. The Board of Trustees reviews the reasonable and relevant interests of the institution’s internal and external constituencies during its decision-making deliberations.
4. The Board of Trustees preserves its independence from undue influence on the part of donors, elected officials, ownership interests or other external parties.
5. The Board of Trustees delegates day-to-day management of the institution to the institution’s administration and expects the institution’s faculty to oversee academic matters.

There are no subcomponents to Core Component 2.D.

1. Ohio University, supporting basic and applied research, maintain professional standards and provide oversight ensuring regulatory compliance, ethical behavior and fiscal accountability.
2. Ohio University provides effective support services to ensure the integrity of research and scholarly practice conducted by its faculty, staff and students.
3. Ohio University provides students guidance in the ethics of research and use of information resources.
4. Ohio University enforces policies on academic honesty and integrity.

1. Courses and programs are current and require levels of student performance appropriate to the credential awarded.
2. Ohio University articulates and differentiates learning goals for its undergraduate, graduate, post-baccalaureate, post-graduate and certificate programs.
3. Ohio University’s program quality and learning goals are consistent across all modes of delivery and all locations (on the main campus, at additional locations, by distance delivery, as dual credit, through contractual or consortial arrangements, or any other modality).

1. The general education program is appropriate to the mission, educational offerings and degree levels of Ohio University. Ohio University articulates the purposes, content and intended learning outcomes of its undergraduate general education requirements.
2. The program of general education is grounded in a philosophy or framework developed by Ohio University or adopted from an established framework. It imparts broad knowledge and intellectual concepts to students and develops skills and attitudes that the institution believes every college-educated person should possess.
3. The education offered by the Ohio University recognizes the human and cultural diversity and provides students with growth opportunities and lifelong skills to live and work in a multicultural world.
4. The faculty and students contribute to scholarship, creative work and the discovery of knowledge to the extent appropriate to their offerings and Ohio University’s mission.

1. Ohio University strives to ensure that the overall composition of its faculty and staff reflects human diversity as appropriate within its mission and for the constituencies it serves.
2. Ohio University has sufficient numbers and continuity of faculty members to carry out both the classroom and the non-classroom roles of faculty, including oversight of the curriculum and expectations for student performance, assessment of student learning, and establishment of academic credentials for instructional staff.
3. All instructors are appropriately qualified, including those in dual credit, contractual and consortial offerings.
4. Instructors are evaluated regularly in accordance with established institutional policies and procedures.
5. Ohio University has processes and resources for assuring that instructors are current in their disciplines and adept in their teaching roles; it supports their professional development.
6. Instructors are accessible for student inquiry.
7. Staff members providing student support services, such as tutoring, financial aid advising, academic advising and cocurricular activities, are appropriately qualified, trained and supported in their professional development.

1. Ohio University provides student support services suited to the needs of its student populations.
2. Ohio University provides for learning support and preparatory instruction to address the academic needs of its students. It has a process for directing entering students to courses and programs for which the students are adequately prepared.
3. Ohio University provides academic advising suited to its offerings and the needs of its students.
4. Ohio University provides to students and instructors the infrastructure and resources necessary to support effective teaching and learning (technological infrastructure, scientific laboratories, libraries, performance spaces, clinical practice sites and museum collections, as appropriate to the institution’s offerings).

1. Ohio University maintains a practice of regular program reviews and acts upon the findings.
2. Ohio University evaluates all the credit that it transcripts, including what it awards for experiential learning or other forms of prior learning, or relies on the evaluation of responsible third parties.
3. Ohio University has policies that ensure the quality of the credit it accepts in transfer.
4. Ohio University maintains and exercises authority over the prerequisites for courses, rigor of courses, expectations for student learning, access to learning resources, and faculty qualifications for all its programs, including dual credit programs. It ensures that its dual credit courses or programs for high school students are equivalent in learning outcomes and levels of achievement to its higher education curriculum.
5. Ohio University maintains specialized accreditation for its programs as appropriate to its educational purposes.
6. Ohio University evaluates the success of its graduates. The institution ensures that the credentials it represents as preparation for advanced study or employment accomplish these purposes. For all programs, the institution looks to indicators it deems appropriate to its mission.

1. Ohio University has effective processes for assessment of student learning and for achievement of learning goals in academic and cocurricular offerings.
2. Ohio University uses the information gained from assessment to improve student learning.
3. Ohio University’s processes and methodologies to assess student learning reflect good practice, including the substantial participation of faculty, instructional and other relevant staff members.

1. Ohio University has defined goals for student retention, persistence and completion that are ambitious, attainable and appropriate to its mission, student populations and educational offerings.
2. Ohio University collects and analyzes information on student retention, persistence and completion of its programs.
3. Ohio University uses information on student retention, persistence and completion of programs to make improvements as warranted by the data.
4. Ohio University’s processes and methodologies for collecting and analyzing information on student retention, persistence and completion of programs reflect good practice. (Institutions are not required to use IPEDS definitions in their determination of persistence or completion rates. Institutions are encouraged to choose measures that are suitable to their student populations, but institutions are accountable for the validity of their measures.)

1. Shared governance at Ohio University engages its internal constituencies—including its Board of Trustees, administration, faculty, staff and students—through planning, policies and procedures.
2. Ohio University’s administration uses data to reach informed decisions in the best interests of the institution and its constituents.
3. Ohio University’s administration ensures that faculty and, when appropriate, staff and students are involved in setting academic requirements, policy and processes through effective collaborative structures.

1. Ohio University has qualified and trained operational staff and infrastructure sufficient to support its operations wherever and however programs are delivered.
2. The goals incorporated into the mission and any related statements are realistic in light of the Ohio University’s organization, resources and opportunities.
3. Ohio University has a well-developed process in place for budgeting and for monitoring its finances.
4. Ohio University’s fiscal allocations ensure that its educational purposes are achieved.

1. Ohio University allocates its resources in alignment with its mission and priorities, including, as applicable, its comprehensive research enterprise, associated institutes and affiliated centers.
2. Ohio University links its processes for assessment of student learning, evaluation of operations, planning and budgeting.
3. The planning process encompasses Ohio University as a whole and considers the perspectives of internal and external constituent groups.
4. Ohio University plans on the basis of a sound understanding of its current capacity, including fluctuations in the institution’s sources of revenue and enrollment.
5. Ohio University’s planning anticipates evolving external factors, such as technology advancements, demographic shifts, globalization, the economy and state support.
6. Ohio University implements its plans to systematically improve its operations and student outcomes.