LSU Shreveport's accreditation reaffirmed for full 10 years

LSU Shreveport's accreditation reaffirmed for full 10 years

SHREVEPORT -- LSU in Shreveport's accreditation has been reaffirmed for a full 10 years, the university learned officially via letter from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

LSUS's reaffirmation of accreditation included no findings or recommendations, signifying the university's high standard of compliance with the SACSCOC standards.

"The goal is always to have a clean accreditation because it means that we are following our own policies, we are transparent with the public, and we are accountable to our stakeholders across the system," said Dr. Helen Wise, associate academic provost who spearheaded the reaffirmation effort. "This is the second straight reaffirmation process in which the university has had no findings or recommendations following our 2015 reaffirmation.

"This effort required a team of more than 50 people across campus working over a two-year period to compile the necessary information, and we're incredibly grateful for everyone's hard work."

The decennial reaffirmation process involves comprehensive evaluation of an institution's adherence to all SACSCOC standards.

Institutions are engaged in a multi-year review process that begins with an extensive self-examination culminating in an on-site visit from a SACSCOC reaffirmation committee.

LSUS Chancellor Dr. Robert Smith shared the news and the SACSCOC letter with faculty and staff at a welcome back event this past Thursday.

"Everybody on this campus worked really hard to make this visit last March a success and the follow-up reports successful," Smith said. "A lot of institutions can't say their accreditation was reaffirmed with no findings or recommendations, so this is certainly something to celebrate."

Part of the self-evaluation process is to propose and implement a Quality Enhancement Plan, and LSUS's centers around employing more "high-impact practices" in the classroom, particularly in "gateway" courses earlier in the student's academic career.

High-impact teaching practices include more collaborative projects, undergraduate research, and service-learning,

"We're focused on the first- and second-year student experience," Wise said. "We've created the CELT (Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching) that provides more professional development for our faculty to explore different ways to deliver content.

"This will continue to improve our rates in student retention and persistence toward a degree."

The reaffirmation of accreditation comes during a time in which LSUS smashed records for enrollment (11,359 this past fall) and number of graduates (more than 1,700 this past spring) in the past calendar year.