Formal request to accrediting body sent a month ahead of schedule
Taking one more step in Colorado Mountain College’s quest to offer a limited number of bachelor’s degrees, in December 2010 administrators formally requested permission from its accrediting body and the Colorado Department of Higher Education.
The initial degrees the college seeks to offer are in business and sustainability.
“The Higher Learning Commission and the Colorado Department of Higher Education will review our request over the next several months,” said Dr. Stan Jensen, president of the community college that serves 11 communities in north-central Colorado as well as distance learners. “In February 2011, a small accreditation team from the HLC will visit us. During that visit we’ll present additional information to them, and they’ll visit campuses and ask us any questions they have about our readiness and ability to offer these degrees.”
Following the HLC’s visit, they will inform the college whether the new degrees have been approved. “Once we receive those approvals, our goal will be to offer these first two degrees in fall 2011,” said Jensen.
Long process to get to this point
Just over a year ago, the college’s board of trustees encouraged administrators and faculty to start the process to offer a limited number of four-year degrees, in addition to the associate degrees, occupational certificates, adult basic education and lifelong learning the college provides. In the spring of 2010, the state legislature voted enthusiastically in support of Senate Bill 10-101, which allowed Colorado Mountain College to offer up to five different bachelor’s degrees. Gov. Bill Ritter signed the bill into law on May 27.
“Since the bill was signed,” said Meeta Goel, the college’s vice president for institutional effectiveness, “teams of faculty, staff and administrators at the college have been working diligently to complete the many tasks and milestones required before we can offer any bachelor’s degrees. We have to be able to demonstrate to the HLC and CDHE that we have or can quickly put into place the right infrastructure, qualified faculty, curricula and many other considerations.”
One condition of getting the Colorado legislature’s approval to offer the degrees is that they must be offered without the college seeking additional funding from the state. In order to meet that condition, a team of college administrators has been examining potential tuition rates. “We have been trying to seek a balance between covering costs and keeping in mind the current and projected tuition rates of four-year colleges. We want to remain the best possible educational value for our students,” said Jensen.
Business and sustainability sought, for starters
“We decided to pursue offering these two degrees first because surveys of our communities, students and in-district businesses showed high demand for them,” said Goel. “We conducted initial surveys a year ago that showed strong support for business and sustainability. More recently, we conducted even more specific surveys – and their results confirmed the strong interest within our communities for these two degrees.”
“One of these surveys specifically asked our area superintendents and principals about the need for teacher education within our communities,” she said. “We are currently in the process of working with local school personnel to help us develop a teacher education degree.”
If the HLC and CDHE approve the initial degrees, and those degrees are successfully implemented, the college will further study and analyze community demand and requirements for adding up to three additional bachelor’s degrees over the next several years.
Visit the CMC website for more information and to receive progress updates about bachelor’s degrees.