Peer Corps Diversity Initiative
Goals
HLC strives for its peer reviewers to be representative of the backgrounds of students, faculty and staff at its member institutions. HLC formed the Peer Corps Committee on Diversity in July 2015 to address this need.
HLC President Barbara Gellman-Danley says, “The value of HLC’s peer review processes depends in part on reviewers’ ability to reflect the diversity of the institutions that HLC serves. At a time when institutions themselves are increasingly being called on to promote diversity, HLC has a responsibility to do the same to ensure the quality of our evaluation, advice and guidance.”
The committee aims to increase the numbers of peer reviewers from the following groups to better reflect the ethnic and racial diversity within HLC’s 1,000 member institutions:
- American Indian or Alaska Native
- Asian and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
- Black or African-American
- Hispanic or Latino
The committee’s target is to increase the cumulative representation of these groups to 20 percent of the Peer Corps by the year 2020. In 2016 and 2017, the initiative met its benchmarks on the way to that target.
“The commitment and work of the Committee are important to HLC’s goal of having a diverse and inclusive Peer Corps. The Committee members identify and recruit prospective peer reviewers from the target groups and provide mentoring activities to ensure new members have positive experiences.”
Sherilyn Poole
Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students (Retired), Governors State University; Former Chair, HLC Peer Corps Committee on Diversity
Benefits of Peer Corps Service
“Being an HLC peer reviewer is a consummate lifelong learning experience that is always rewarding and never disappointing.”
Julie Guevara
Professor of Social Work, Grand Valley State University
“Membership in the HLC Peer Corps is one of the best professional development experiences of a peer reviewer's career, bar none. Having the opportunity to assess member institutions’ materials enriches the peer reviewer’s knowledge base, resulting in benefits to both the peer reviewer and the institution served.”
Benjamin Young
Vice President Emeritus, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana; Inaugural Chair, HLC Peer Corps Committee on Diversity
Diversity Committee Members
Interim President
Maricopa Community Colleges-Phoenix College
Babatunde Alokolaro
Associate Director, Member Education and Peer Corps Service
Higher Learning Commission
Jesse Bernal
Vice President for Inclusion and Equity & Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Initiatives
Grand Valley State University
Provost/VPAA and Professor of Nursing
Rochester University
Instructional Faculty
Pima County Community College District
Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatrics
University of Arizona College of Medicine–Tucson
AVP, Academic Human Resources
Oakland University
Iwalani Else
Director of Institutional Research and Assessment and Associate Professor of Sociology
The College of Saint Scholastica
Vice President of Student Development
Maricopa Community Colleges–South Mountain Community College
John Marr
Vice President for Accreditation Relations
Higher Learning Commission
Lisa Perez-Miller
Vice President of Students/Enrollment Management
Pratt Community College
Koreen Ressler
Vice President of Operations
Sitting Bull College
Jamie Stanesa
Vice President of Member Education and Peer Corps Service
Higher Learning Commission
Linnea Stenson
Vice President for Accreditation Relations
Higher Learning Commission