Letter From the President

Welcome to Oklahoma City University’s accreditation website. Accreditation, as much a process as a status, is vital to our institutional well-being, and the purpose of this website is to help engage our community in that process.

In early November 2011, a team from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools will visit OCU. The visit is part of the ongoing process through which OCU seeks to retain its status as an accredited university. Accreditation by our regional agency (the Higher Learning Commission) is a process through which we have the opportunity to take a close look at ourselves and see what we are doing well and where we need improvement. While we continually assess the university’s programs and processes through strategic planning and in other ways, the accreditation process requires us not simply to systematically study the university as a whole, but to report our findings to an outside agency (HLC) that will independently evaluate us.

The criteria for accreditation have changed since our last comprehensive visit ten years ago. They are more reliant on data and other evidence. Professor Art LeFrancois, from our law school, is coordinating our self-study – the document that will use this evidence to report to the HLC how we are doing relative to their five governing criteria. The self-study process is perhaps the heart of the accreditation process. It is our goal that the self-study process be transparent, candid, and widely shared. Reaccreditation will require the participation of individuals throughout the entire OCU community, on-campus and off.

With your participation, we can continue to improve how we serve our students and our community. Thank you for visiting this site.

Robert Henry
President
Oklahoma City University