Northcentral University

THIS is what's happening... What's New at NCU John LaNear, PhD, JD, Provost and Chief Academic Officer The higher education realm is currently evolving in exciting ways. Online education continues to grow largely due to the flexibility and practicality it provides to adult learners. NCU remains committed to serving as a leader in providing adult learners with innovative learning and support structures in online graduate education. NCU also remains committed to providing staff and faculty members with a work environment that promotes diversity, engagement, collegiality, and graduate culture. In the recent months, NCU endeavored into significant initiatives to better support NCU's strategic vision. A few key updates I want to highlight are: NCU successfully obtained 501(c)(3) status and is in the process of creating a Grants Office. We created a solid working relationship with our new partner, National Education Partners (NEP) and our new working relationship is going well. As NEP works to organize as a true online program management (OPM) organization, NEP ensured their focus remains dedicated to our students, and our students' success. We are scheduling more dissertation boot camps, Dissertation Completion Pathway Intensives, alumni receptions, and are exploring our ability to offer "pop-up" courses in an effort to add "bricks and clicks" to our model. We invite you to visit our NCU institutional calendar of university events to see what is on the horizon. 2019 will continue to be a year of transition, which will position us for long-term success. I want to thank the entire NCU community for your contributions to the initiatives focused on NCU's future success; you are what makes NCU thrive. Accreditation Update The NCU community endeavored into an energizing exercise last spring when the academic leadership launched the Reaffirmation of Accreditation process. The Reaffirmation of Accreditation process is the method WSCUC utilizes to cooperate with WSCUC's accredited institutions ensuring the university achieved WSCUC's expectations of institutional effectiveness, teaching and learning, and student achievement. Last year, NCU's leadership and team members volunteered to serve on committees tasked with drafting the initial narrative for the self-study. The committees produced a draft of the self-study composed of the multiple initiatives, resources, processes, and effectiveness measures NCU utilized to ensure achievement of the WSCUC Criteria for Review (CFRs). Recently, the academic deans provided comprehensive feedback, and the self-study committees diligently addressed each recommendation. Next steps will include editing the draft for clarity in preparation for dissemination to the NCU community for review. NCU's leadership anticipates submitting the final self-study document to WSCUC later this year. Listen to the audio to learn more about the programmatic accreditation achievements within the School of Health Sciences. Jessica Hensley, Director of Accreditation and Special Projects

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