Beginning in the fall of 2012, a two-year accreditation process came to full steam Wednesday and will be continuing for most of the school year.

An accreditation for Eastern is a quality check for the university.

Eastern’s steering committee, which oversees the process, has two chairs: Bob Augustine, the dean of the graduate school and Jeff Stowell, a psychology professor.

The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools is accrediting Eastern.

Augustine said the process is a two-year work-in-progress and is constantly being worked on throughout the year.

“The infrastructure of it began last fall,” he said.

Augustine said the accreditation looks at the progress Eastern has made since the last time the university was accredited.

“We also want to make sure the campus is informed about what we’re doing,” Augustine said.

Even though the process has already started, Augustine said Eastern community members could contribute by coming to a First Friday seminar, which are checkpoints for the steering committee.

The First Friday seminars are at 7:30 a.m. in the Loft of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

At each of the First Friday seminars, members of the steering committee will be presenting their section of the criterion.

The criterion is split up into five different sections.

The Mission criterion consists of explaining Eastern’s mission and making sure the public knows it.

The Integrity criterion deals with the ethics of the university.

The Teaching and Learning: Quality, Resources and Support criterion works with the quality of the education offered to students.

The criterion Teaching and Learning: Evaluation and Improvement deals with how the institution handles the responsibility of its education quality and how effective the learning process is.

Finally, the Resources, Planning and Institutional Effectiveness criterion sums up how Eastern is able to plan for the future with the quality of education it has, along with Eastern’s mission.

Augustine said anybody who wants to come to the First Friday seminars are welcome.

Augustine also said the criteria are available online on Eastern’s website.

“Each First Friday we report out what we’re doing,” he said.

He also said each report is a draft of what is happening and how the specific criterion is being handled, and they are looking for input from Eastern members.

Bob Galuski can be reached at 581-2812 or rggaluski@eiu.edu.