WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- In March, the Higher Learning Commission reaffirmed the Air Force Institute of Technology’s accreditation for the maximum 10-year period.
As an independent organization, HLC accredits degree-granting, postsecondary educational institutions in the North Central region.
“We have no additional reporting requirements beyond the baseline Open Pathway process – a major accomplishment,” said Dr. Heidi Ries, AFIT chief academic officer. “Getting to this point was a significant undertaking, including our quality initiative, completion of our assurance argument, and most importantly, ongoing excellence by all faculty, staff and students in the execution of our mission.”
AFIT followed HLC’s Open Pathway option for reaccreditation, which focuses on quality assurance and institutional improvement. An institution demonstrates that it meets the criteria for accreditation by preparing an assurance argument and completing a quality initiative project.
“After years of preparation and months of execution actions, we are delighted about AFIT’s HLC accreditation reaffirmation, and we are celebrating it as a campus team achievement,” said Dr. Adedeji Badiru, dean of AFIT’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management.
There are five criterion for accreditation: 1) mission; 2) integrity: ethical and responsible conduct; 3) teaching and learning: quality, resources, and support; 4) teaching and learning: evaluation and improvement; 5) resources, planning, and institutional effectiveness.
AFIT’s quality initiative project focused on modernizing instructional capabilities across the institute addressing five thrust areas: 1) classroom and teaching laboratory design, functionality and utilization; 2) e-learning technologies for resident and distance delivery; 3) faculty and staff development programs and support infrastructure; 4) infrastructure to support advanced instructional technology capabilities; 5) organizational structures, policies, processes, procedures and strategic vision to support effective teaching.