The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association will conduct a site visit from Monday through Wednesday, and will have open sessions for students, faculty and staff.

NCA’s Higher Learning Commission accredits Eastern, and as part of the accrediting process, the HLC conducts a site visit on campus.

Institutions may be affiliated with the commission in two ways including “gaining and maintaining accredited status” or by “gaining and maintaining candidate status,” according to the HLC website.

All faculty and graduate student sessions will be at 4 p.m. Monday in Lumpkin Hall Room 2030 for faculty, and in Buzzard Hall Room 1501 for graduate students.

For all undergraduate students, sessions will be at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the University Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

The staff sessions will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Lumpkin Hall Room 2030.

Being affiliated with HLC provides “public certification of quality, opportunity and incentive for self-improvement, a process for making improvements, and advice and consultation from experienced evaluators,” according to Eastern’s NCA website.

Institutions must meet five criteria areas in order to be part of HLC.

This criteria includes the mission of the university must be clear and articulated publicly, the institution must demonstrate integrity through ethical and responsible conduct, must have effective teaching and learning through quality, support, resources, evaluation, and improvement.

The last criterion is to have good planning and institutional effectiveness.

Further information about the five different criteria areas is available through the NCA HLC website.

Debby Hernandez can be reached at 581-2812 or dhernandez5@eiu.edu.