Garden City Community College will host a Comprehensive Evaluation for Removal of Sanction site visit November 5-7, 2018 with a team of peer reviewers representing the Higher Learning Commission.
Public Disclosure:
Garden City Community College status changed
from Accredited to Accredited On Probation
Effective: June 29,2017
The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) has placed Garden City Community College in Garden City, Kansas, on Probation. HLC took this action because it determined that the College does not meet HLC’s Criteria for Accreditation related to faculty and staffing needs, quality of educational programs, assessment of student learning, and improvements in student retention and completion, institutional planning, and institutional performance.
While on Probation, the College remains accredited, and it has the opportunity to remedy the issues that led to the sanction.
What Probation Means for Students
Probation is a sanction meaning that an accredited institution is no longer in compliance with one or more of HLC’s Criteria for Accreditation. The period of Probation is not more than two years.
In most cases, other institutions of higher education will continue to accept the institution’s credits in transfer or for admission to a higher degree program. All colleges and universities define their own transfer and admission policies. Students should contact any institution they plan to attend in the future so they are knowledgeable about the admission and transfer policies for that institution.
Noted Criteria for Accreditation
HLC concluded that the College does not meet the following Criteria for Accreditation:
Criterion Three, Core Component 3.A, the institution’s degree programs are appropriate to higher education.
Criterion Four, Core Component 4.A, the institution demonstrates responsibility for the quality of its educational programs.
Criterion Four, Core Component 4.B, the institution demonstrates a commitment to educational achievement and improvement through ongoing assessment of student learning.
Criterion Four, Core Component 4.C, the institution demonstrates a commitment to educational improvement through ongoing attention to retention, persistence, and completion rates in its degree and certificate programs.
HLC concluded that the College meets but with concerns the following Criteria for Accreditation:
Criterion Five, Core Component 5.C, the institution engages in systematic and integrated planning.
Criterion Five, Core Component 5.D, the institution works systematically to improve its performance.
Next Steps
The College is required to provide evidence that it has addressed the issues that led to the sanction by September 10, 2018 in preparation for HLC’s on-site evaluation no later than November 2018. In June 2019, the HLC Board of Trustees will determine whether the institution has demonstrated that it is in compliance with the Criteria for Accreditation and whether Probation can be removed.
About the Higher Learning Commission
The Higher Learning Commission accredits approximately 1,000 colleges and universities that have a home base in one of 19 states that stretch from West Virginia to Arizona. HLC is a private, nonprofit regional accrediting agency. HLC’s mission is to assure and advance the quality of higher learning. It is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The institutions HLC accredits include public, private not-for-profit, and proprietary institutions at degree levels from the associate’s through the doctoral degree level and from small, specialized institutions through large research universities.
Students, parents, and others from the general public with questions regarding HLC’s work should contact the Higher Learning Commission by email at info@hlcommission.org or by phone at 312-263-0456.
In addition, the GCCC Practical Nursing Program is approved by the Kansas State Board of Nursing, and the Associate Degree Program is approved by the Kansas State Board of Nursing and is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). See our nursing accreditation page for further detail. Certain GCCC programs have also obtained other specific individual accreditation. GCCC has been accepted for the continuous quality improvement accreditation model by the national Academic Quality Improvement Project.
The GCCC Emergency Medical Services-Paramedic program is accredited by the Commission of Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs CAAHEP upon the recommendation of the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions.
Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs
25400 US Highway 19 N Suite 158
Clearwater, FL 33763
727-210-2350
To Contact CoAEMSP
8301 Lakeview Parkway Suite 111-312
Rowlett, TX 75088
214-703-8445
FAX 214-703-8992