LEWISBURG, W.Va. –The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine has been granted continued accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission
The commission granted the reaccreditation with no concerns, meaning that the institution had no areas that needed improvement.
James W. Nemitz, Ph. D., WVSOM’s president says that he is pleased with what the commission found and is also appreciative to the administrators, faculty, and staff who helped the school meet what the HLC was looking for.
“The Higher Learning Commission’s report shows that WVSOM is adhering to the highest standards of compliance while preparing students for careers as competent, compassionate physicians,” Nemitz said in a news release. “I’m proud of all of those who have helped make this accreditation a success. A stamp of approval from a prestigious organization like the HLC will have positive implications from WVSOM for years to come.”
The comprehensive evaluation focused on four different areas. The commission did an assurance review of arguments and evidence provided by the institution where they were looking for demonstrations of compliance with the commission’s accreditation criteria, they sent out a student opinion survey, did an on-site review which was conducted by peer reviewers who looked to see how the institution applies the commission’s requirements and they did a final review and action based on a site team report.
Since the school had such high performance, it prompted the commission to allow the school to choose an “open pathway” for the next accreditation cycle. This means that WVSOM is considered to have few accreditation concerns, more financial stability and a stronger culture of compliance.
Machelle Linsenmeyer, Ed. D., WVSOM’s assistant vice president for institutional effectiveness and academic resources, says that the reaccreditation lays the foundation for the school’s continued growth.
“Accreditation shows that we are a school with processes in place and continuous quality improvement projects that meet the standards not only of our programmatic accreditor, but of an institutional accreditor. We’re thrilled that we got the highest recommendation, and we now have the opportunity to move forward with the open pathway, which is important for the expansions we want to make for new opportunities at WVSOM, ” she said.
The school will be up for reaffirmation in 10 years.