Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to share with you the news that Grand Valley officially received notification of reaffirmation of accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) on March 8, and has earned the full ten years until the next comprehensive review. After extensive hard work by many throughout our campus community, this is both extremely gratifying and reaffirming of our commitment to a high quality education for our students. We should all feel very proud of the excellent education that we offer students and this external affirmation of our work.

Accreditation requires that we demonstrate meeting five overarching Standards and the 21 Core Components comprised within. We received top marks for all core components with no concerns noted by the review team. This is truly an outstanding achievement and not the norm for these types of reviews. Additionally, the visit team wrote the following as part of their report:

“The HLC team is in consensus that Grand Valley State University has clearly met the Higher Learning Commission’s Criteria for Accreditation and Core Components. GVSU’s Assurance Argument was well written and supported by substantial evidence… GVSU has successfully demonstrated its capacity for setting and achieving mission driven aspirational goals. Significantly, the Institution accomplishes this while operating in a highly collaborative, shared governance environment… The team would like to thank faculty, staff and administration for their welcoming hospitality, attention to our requests, and candid participation in our meetings and interviews.”

The preparation for this review was extensive and involved many faculty and staff throughout all parts of the University. I was so pleased to see widespread engagement in this effort including over 200 students, faculty and staff who met with the HLC visiting team. In particular, I would like to thank and recognize the excellent work of the Assurance Argument Leadership Committee who prepared Grand Valley’s reports for the review.

I am proud of the dedication and commitment of our faculty and staff who work daily to provide a high quality, relevant educational experience focused on student success, while being good stewards of our resources. Our reaffirmation of accreditation is not the result of a singular effort, but rather a reflection on what we do inside and outside of the classroom every day to impact our students. I am thankful for your important role in helping us to live out our mission and achieve our goals, including this important milestone in Grand Valley’s history.

Best regards,

Maria C. Cimitile

Provost & Executive Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs