Tori Lemon
Editor-in-Chief
During the month of February, Butler’s El Dorado campus will be visited by three different organizations: The Higher Learning Commission (HLC), Kansas State Board of Nursing (KSBN) and the Office of Civil Rights (OCR). These visits resemble a “check-up” and aim to make sure Butler, and its policies are all compliant with each of these departments.
“I would compare them to an annual physical that someone might have with their doctor,” Vice President of Academics Lori Winningham said. “It is a welcomed check-up on the many things we do to support our students, faculty and staff. If something is out of line, we need a check-up to help us identify what may be of concern, so we can keep the institution healthy.”
HLC will visit on Wednesday, Feb. 8 and Thursday, Feb. 9. This visit will be a follow-up to Butler as they submitted their Assurance Argument in September of 2017. Butler is required by HLC to submit this argument four years after their last accreditation visit.
Once they provided the update, their evaluation team chose to send a small team to visit Butler. As far as who is responsible for setting up this visit, the President’s Office along with Academics, Student Services, Office of Institutional Research and others were to make this visit happen.
KSBN will visit on Tuesday, Feb. 20 and Wednesday, Feb. 21 and they will be on campus conducting a site visit for the Nursing First-Level Program are approval process. This happens every five years, and just coincidentally happened during the time of the other two campus visits.
OCR will visit on Friday, Feb. 23. Butler had an on-site visit from them in 2009, but nothing recent. The Kansas Board of Regents are responsible for choosing colleges each year for the OCR to visit and evaluate. This visit’s goal is to be sure Butler is compliant with the following Federal Laws: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Guidelines for Elimination Discrimination and Denial of Services of the Basis of Race, Color, National Origin, Sex and Handicap in Vocation Education Program.
As simple as the OCR visit might seem, some think it is the gateway to something much bigger.
All three of the departments will be speaking to those on campus. The HLC visit, for example, will include a full day of conversation with selected faculty, staff and administration.
“We have already established an agenda and have individuals identified to speak with them,” Winningham said. “There will also be some sessions that they will talk to students.”
KSBN and OCR will conduct interviews with selected students, faculty, staff and administration. These two, however, will inquire about things more directed to their department.
“KSBN will be focused on the nursing program and while they will want to talk to people in other departments, they are interested in how our nursing program operates,” Winningham said. “OCR will have a focus primarily on non discrimination, especially in our vocational programs.”
The goal of the administration at Butler is to show these departments that Butler is compliant and doing everything they should be doing, legally. As far as what these departments will take away from these visits, Vice President Winningham stays optimistic.
“I am hoping they will confirm that Butler follows the accreditation criteria and federal requirements that are expected of us,” Winningham said. “No institution is perfect, so if there are areas that we need to make improvements on, they will identify those and we will work to correct any deficiencies.”
