Last week, a team representing the Minnesota Board of Teaching evaluated all programs in the Department of Education. In the team’s exit interview, they commended the department and announced that they were recommending to the Board of Teaching that our programs again be approved through 2017.

The team went out of their way to affirm the advanced preparation of the department, the quality and thoroughness of the report, the hospitality of the university, the openness of all who were interviewed, the dedication of the faculty, and the extraordinary support staff in the department. Like most things done well at Bethel, many departments and individuals (Facilities Management, IT, deans and associate deans, at al.) worked cooperatively to make the visit successful.

Beyond the 53 standards to be met, the team commended the department for exceptional leadership within Bethel, exceptional leadership within professional organizations and state government, and strong connections with schools in diverse communities. A visit to the King Family Foundation Child Development Center, Bethel’s CDC in the Frogtown neighborhood, moved one of the team members to tears because of the work being done there.

Why does external approval matter? Some external approval is necessary to operate and give degrees to students. It affirms that we are fulfilling our mission with integrity. Other external review is an affirmation by the specific discipline or profession that we are doing top quality work and meeting the standards established by the profession. At the highest level, the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges (HLC) visits Bethel every 10 years to affirm that we are fulfilling our mission and meeting educational quality standards. Without HLC approval, we would not be eligible for state and federal student aid programs.

For Bethel Seminary, accreditation by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) is also important. Some churches will not hire seminary graduates unless they have been through an ATS approved seminary. ATS accreditation puts our seminary in a select group of 252 seminaries in North America. ATS will do a combined visit to the seminary with HLC in 2011.

In addition, some programs require state approval to operate. The Minnesota Board of Teaching gives the required state approval for our Department of Education, and the Minnesota Board of Nursing gives state approval for our Department of Nursing. Several departments have also earned external professional accreditation. Education, nursing, athletic training, social work, and chemistry have earned this stamp of approval from the highest levels of their professional organizations.

Preparing for an external review is time consuming. If we do it well, it is also a quality improvement process for our programs. I am thankful for faculty and administrative colleagues who lead our institutional assessment efforts (Rich Sherry, Joel Frederickson, David Ridder, and Jeannine Brown) and to all who commit to high quality outcomes for our students. It’s always a good day when a group from the outside says, “Great job!”