LEWISBURG, W.Va. — Last week, the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine was granted continued accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission.
WVSOM’s President James W. Nemitz, Ph. D, says this is significant for the institution.
“This is a big deal. This is a culmination of a lot of years of effort from a lot of people,” Nemitz said. “Accreditation is important and to re-accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, which is the largest, the oldest, and some people say the best accreditor in the world, is significant.”
Nemitz says this is about how the institution comes through for the student.
“They’re not only looking at us in terms of how are we doing with our osteopathic program. It’s all about quality. It’s all about are you delivering a quality experience for the student and are they finding jobs?” Nemitz said.
The HLC granted WVSOM reaccreditation with no concerns, suggesting that the school did not need to improve on any particular area. With the high performance, the school to choose an “open pathway” for the next accreditation cycle, according to the HLC.
“It’s a tremendous stamp of approval because the HLC has high standards. There are five criteria and there’s all kinds of standards that you have to meet. We met them all without any concerns,” Nemitz said.
During the accreditation process, the HLC reviewed multiple different areas. Among those areas of the evaluation was a review of the school’s arguments and evidence showing demonstrations of compliance with the commission’s criteria, a student opinion survey, and an on-site visit.
Nemitz says the on-site visit gave evaluators a first-hand look at the school’s practices.
“They set a date, and they had a site visit to see if you’re really walking the talk. Are you really doing what you say you’re doing? How do the students feel about the school? How does the faculty feel about the school?” Nemitz said. “They send a five-person team, and they look at everything in terms of student experience, how do you treat your faculty, is there shared governance? All of that is considered.”
Nemitz also says this reaccreditation will help the WVSOM attract new students and faculty members.
“The whole reason why we went down this path is because what it enables us to add new programs,” Nemitz said. “You have to have an institutional accreditor like the Higher Learning Commission to accredit any new programs you’re doing. That’s what this is all about. It’s about growing new programs.”
This past year was the first year the WVSOM offered a graduate program. The WVSOM is also offering dual degree programs, such as a MBA with the University of Charleston and an MPH with Marshall University.
“There’s lots of opportunities and it’s all about providing students with skills to serve West Virginia,” Nemitz said.
Nemitz credits his entire staff for their work during the process. Dr. Mary Norris was the school’s director of accreditation.