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BSC president named to national panel rethinking higher ed accreditation

Published: Jul 19 2017
BSC president named to national panel rethinking higher ed accreditation - Photo
Bismarck State College President Larry C. Skogen has been named to a new Higher Learning Commission (HLC) panel, the HLC Partners for Transformation, tasked with rethinking higher education accreditation practices.
 
“At times accreditation has felt like a roadblock to innovation,” Skogen says. “I’m excited that HLC is thinking how accreditation can facilitate innovation instead.”
 
Arthur Levine, Ph.D., another panel member and the president of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation noted that accreditation dates back to the late 1800s. “When accreditation was created, higher education looked like the wild west and required standardization. Now we are at the beginning of a revolution. How do we encourage innovation and create standards for a new era?”
 
BSC has long been a model of innovative delivery, Skogen says, citing the distance learning within the Dakota Nursing Program and the online delivery by the National Energy Center of Excellence as two standout examples.
 
“By our inclusion on this panel, our innovation is being recognized by the HLC. I’m really looking forward to being part of the conversation about higher education in a rapidly changing technological world, and how accreditation intersects with all that.”