Proposed Policy Changes
At its meeting on February 25, 2022, the Board of Trustees of the Higher Learning Commission approved the following policy changes on first reading. HLC invites comments on these proposed policies before the Board takes final action on second reading in June 2022. Comments must be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by May 20, 2022.
- Corporate Formalities
The proposed bylaw change would formalize the role of Treasurer as a corporate officer, provide that HLC’s President may appoint other employees to serve as a corporate officer, and would generally clarify language related to election, resignation and removal of officers. - Grounds for Certain Adverse Actions
The proposed policy changes would standardize the grounds for denial or withdrawal of candidacy and withdrawal of accreditation. The changes also would establish that certain additional Board procedures are not applicable in situations where the Board's withdrawal of candidacy or accreditation occurs because an institution has ceased to operate as an institution of higher education or has lost its legal authorization to operate as an institution of higher education and to grant degrees in HLC’s jurisdiction. - Institutional Practices for Verification of Student Identity and Protection of Student Privacy
The proposed policy change would clarify that institutions’ obligations to use processes that protect student privacy go beyond the narrow context of student identity verification in distance and correspondence education offerings. The proposed change would align HLC policy more closely with federal regulations. - Board of Trustees Nominations Process
The proposed bylaw change would modify the process for nominating trustees to serve on HLC’s Board of Trustees. Under the current process, a Nominating Committee comprised of individuals from member institutions provides a pool of nominees to a committee of Board members, who develop a slate of nominees to stand for election. The proposed change would simplify the process such that the Board committee would serve as the nominating committee. - Public Member Representation on the Institutional Actions Council
The proposed policy changes would codify that, per federal regulations, every HLC decision-making body, including individual committees of the Institutional Actions Council (IAC), must have one public member for every seven committee members. - Publication of Policies on Transfer of Credit
Federal regulations provide that an institution’s policies related to transfer of credit must disclose certain information. The proposed policy change would ensure that the minimum requirements imposed by federal regulation are required to be included in an institution’s policies related to transfer of credit. - Student Achievement and Other Data Reporting
The proposed policy changes would identify what data must be disclosed by all institutions; take into account the relevance of mission-specific data in the context of student achievement; conform language in policy with instructions appearing in HLC’s Federal Compliance and Institutional Update materials; and reinforce HLC’s expectations that underperforming institutions will develop effective strategies to continuously improve. - Substantive Change Policy and Review Processes
The proposed policy changes would articulate the purpose of HLC’s substantive change review and approval process, specify substantive change requirements for institutions under a provisional certification with the U.S. Department of Education, and clarify procedures related to desk reviews and approval by HLC staff of certain substantive change requests.