The last decade has been a period of substantial challenge and change for the University of Northern Iowa, and in this period it has had to work hard to ensure that it continues to provide a high-quality education for its students, to serve its community well, and to engage in the continuous improvement of its programs. UNI is proud that it has been able to sustain educational excellence and adapt to this changing environment successfully.
This self-study provides evidence of the University of Northern Iowa’s commitment to high-quality educational programs and a culture of continuous improvement. It also demonstrates its compliance with the HLC Criteria for reaccreditation, and with its agreement to conduct a special-emphasis self-study, by participating in the Foundations of Excellence® program (FoE) as specified in the joint project between the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and the Policy Center on the First Year of College.
Part One of this document provides background on the University, and describes in detail UNI’s response to the 2001 Team Evaluation Report and UNI’s progress since 2001.
Part Two contains chapters on each of the five HLC accreditation criteria. Each of these chapters demonstrates how UNI meets the accreditation criteria, and ends with areas for improvement with recommendations of ways to make those improvements.
Part Three consists of chapters based on Foundations of Excellence® self-study, which provides further evidence that UNI meets the criteria for accreditation. This section of the self-study also identifies areas for improvement and ends with a chapter describing recommended actions based on an assessment of the Foundations of Excellence® project.
Based on all the evidence in this report, and the additional evidence made available to the Commission in UNI’s resource room, the University of Northern Iowa formally requests continued accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.