UND’s big test: University prepares for once-a-decade visit by accrediting agency

By Stephen J. Lee. UND’s leaders have been cramming for three years for a three-day test coming up this week. Five members of the Chicago-based North Central Association’s Higher Learning Commission will spend Monday through Wednesday on campus, administering the anything-but-pop quiz.
It’s a test pretty much nobody flunks and UND is marking its 100th such year being accredited by the association, an independent corporation which measures more than 1,000 institutions of higher learning in 19 states. But it’s a mandatory, if minimum, requirement said UND President Robert Kelley, not least because federal financial aid flows only to accredited schools. Such a comprehensive review comes every 10 years, and Kelley said UND officials have been working for several years to make sure the colors will be flying and will be green and white. More...