Higher Learning Commission Approves New Campuses and Gives Cooley a 10-year Approval
The Higher Learning Commission - North Central Association North Central Association has extended Thomas M. Cooley Law School’s accreditation, allowing the full three year Juris Doctor program to be offered at our campuses in Grand Rapids and Oakland. The final stage in this approval process occurred on Sept. 11, 2006, when the Commission’s Board of Trustees ratified prior recommendations to approve the Grand Rapids campus.
This decision is the culmination of a series of favorable HLC actions over the past few months. The first step was renewal of Cooley’s accreditation. At a meeting of the Commission’s Board of Trustees held on May 11, 2006, the Board continued Cooley's accreditation for 10 full years--the maximum time allowed under HLC standards. In July, the HLC staff extended accreditation to the full J.D. program at Oakland. The HLC staff also recommended extending the same accreditation to the full J.D. program at Grand Rapids. For this campus, an additional step was required because Cooley’s Oakland campus was already a degree-granting campus, while no degree-granting program had yet been approved at Grand Rapids. The Grand Rapids campus was approved by the Commission’s Institutional Actions Committee at its August 28, 2006 meeting, and that decision was ratified by the HLC Board of Trustees on September 11, 2006.
The Higher Learning Commission is part of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The NCA, founded in 1895, is one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States. Through its commissions it accredits, and thereby grants membership to educational institutions in the North Central region: Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Mexico, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming. The Commission is recognized by the US Department of Education and the Council on Higher Education Accreditation.
Cooley was one of the first independent law schools to voluntarily seek accreditation through the Higher Learning Commission.
The Higher Learning Commission conducted a reaccreditation site visit to Cooley Law School on November 13 - 16, 2005. The visit went exceptionally well. During the exit interview, the team announced it would recommend to the commission that no further commission action be required until the next comprehensive visit. The June 6 decision was consistent with what the team noted during the visit.
In its report, the team concluded: "The Thomas M. Cooley Law School is a quality institution that is grounded in its mission. The School has a clear sense of what it is and where it’s going."
The Higher Learning Commission reaccreditation process was positive throughout. The team’s report is in two parts: Assurances that Cooley is meeting the HLC standards, and an Advancement section, which offers positive suggestions. These focus primarily on the development of the next strategic plan and on assessment initiatives and institutional research.
Cooley was asked to file one status report on assessment at the end of four years.
Team members who visited Cooley included Prof. James Cicarelli (team chair), Roosevelt University; Prof. James H. Larson, University of North Dakota; Jeffrey H. Chen, Cleveland State University; Prof. Kelly A. Tzoumis, DePaul University; President George Kidd, David N. Myers University, Associate Dean Jan G. Womack, University of Oklahoma.
Credit for the successful HLC visit goes to the Teaching Learning Assessing Committee, who drafted this self study, and to Prof. Julie Clement, who edited the self study prepared for this visit.
Cooley Law School has been fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 2001.
Reports from the HLC are available upon request.
> Cooley is ABA-Accredited
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