Accreditation

Accreditation

CRITERION 4 - Acquisition, Discovery, and Application of Knowledge

The Higher Learning Commission defines Criterion Four as:

The organization promotes a life of learning for its faculty, administration, staff, and students by fostering and supporting inquiry, creativity, practice, and social responsibility in ways consistent with its mission.

Broad knowledge, intellectual curiosity and social consciousness are at the core of Criterion Four. A university’s commitment to lifelong learning applies not only to its students, but also to its faculty, staff and administrators thru academic freedom, professional development opportunities, public acknowledgment of scholarly activities, and scholarship and research opportunities.

CORE COMPONENT 4a:

The organization demonstrates, through the actions of its board, administrators, students, faculty, and staff, that it values a life of learning.

Examples of Evidence

• The board has approved and disseminated statements supporting freedom of inquiry for the organization’s students, faculty, and staff, and honors those statements in its practices.
• The organization’s planning and pattern of financial allocation demonstrate that it values and promotes a life of learning for its students, faculty, and staff.
• The organization supports professional development opportunities and makes them available to all of its administrators, faculty, and staff.
• The organization publicly acknowledges the achievements of students and faculty in acquiring, discovering, and applying knowledge.
• The faculty and students, in keeping with the organization’s mission, produce scholarship and create knowledge through basic and applied research.
• The organization and its units use scholarship and research to stimulate organizational and educational improvements.

Subcommittee Membership
Bob Bridges
Sarah Garber
Michael Sarras
Jim Sturino

CORE COMPONENT 4b:

The organization demonstrates that acquisition of a breadth of knowledge and skills and the exercise of intellectual inquiry are integral to its educational programs.

Examples of Evidence

• The organization integrates general education into all of its undergraduate degree programs through curricular and experiential offerings intentionally created to develop the attitudes and skills requisite for a life of learning in a diverse society.
• The organization regularly reviews the relationship between its mission and values and the effectiveness of its general education.
• The organization assesses how effectively its graduate programs establish a knowledge base on which students develop depth of expertise.
• The organization demonstrates the linkages between curricular and cocurricular activities that support inquiry, practice, creativity, and social responsibility.
• Learning outcomes demonstrate that graduates have achieved breadth of knowledge and skills and the capacity to exercise intellectual inquiry.
• Learning outcomes demonstrate effective preparation for continued learning.

Subcommittee Membership
Sherry Bagno
Frank Maldonado
Rosanne Thomas

CORE COMPONENT 4c:

The organization assesses the usefulness of its curricula to students who will live and work in a global, diverse, and technological society.
Examples of Evidence

• Regular academic program reviews include attention to currency and relevance of courses and programs.
• In keeping with its mission, learning goals and outcomes include skills and professional competence essential to a diverse workforce.
• Learning outcomes document that graduates have gained the skills and knowledge they need to function in diverse local, national, and global societies.
• Curricular evaluation involves alumni, employers, and other external constituents who understand the relationships among the courses of study, the currency of the curriculum, and the utility of the knowledge and skills gained.
• The organization supports creation and use of scholarship by students in keeping with its mission.
• Faculty expect students to master the knowledge and skills necessary for independent learning in programs of applied practice.
• The organization provides curricular and cocurricular opportunities that promote social responsibility.

Subcommittee Membership
Alice Gilman-Sachs
Ron Kaplan
Michael Kremer

CORE COMPONENT 4d:

The organization provides support to ensure that faculty, students, and staff acquire, discover, and apply knowledge responsibly.

Examples of Evidence

• The organization’s academic and student support programs contribute to the development of student skills and attitudes fundamental to responsible use of knowledge.
• The organization follows explicit policies and procedures to ensure ethical conduct in its research and instructional activities.
• The organization encourages curricular and cocurricular activities that relate responsible use of knowledge to practicing social responsibility.
• The organization provides effective oversight and support services to ensure the integrity of research and practice conducted by its faculty and students.
• The organization creates, disseminates, and enforces clear policies on practices involving intellectual property rights.

Subcommittee Membership
David Armstrong
Chuck Barsano
Renee Bresler

 Criterion Committee Members

Name	Position	Affiliation
David Armstrong	CLEAR Director & Associate Dean	Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine
Sherry Bagno	Executive Director Human Resources	Rosalind Franklin University
Chuck Barsano	Senior Associate Dean Clinical Affairs	Chicago Medical School
Renee Besler	Administrative Assistant Operations	Rosalind Franklin University
Robert Bridges	Professor & Chair Physiology and Biophysics	Chicago Medical School
Sarah Garber (Liaison)	Associate Professor Interprofessional Healthcare Studies	College of Health Professions
Alice Gilman-Sachs	Associate Professor Microbiology and Immunology	Chicago Medical School
Ron Kaplan	Professor & Chair Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Chicago Medical School
Michael Kremer (Chair)	Associate Professor & Chair Nurse Anesthesia	College of Health Professions
Mary Ella Kenefake	Student	Chicago Medical School
Frank Maldonado	Professor & Vice Chair Medicine	Chicago Medical School
Julia Parsons	Student	Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine
Michael Sarras	Vice President for Research & Dean	School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
Jim Sturino	Administrative Director Medicine	Chicago Medical School
Rosanne Thomas	Assistant Professor Physical Therapy	College of Health Professions

* The business of the Criterion Committees is divided amongst the individual Core Component Subcommittees. The subcommittees meet on a regular basis throughout the data collection/ compilation process and report back to the Criterion Committee Chair who, in turn, provides an update to the Steering Committee.