January 18, 2023
Story by Maggie Harris
At its meeting on Jan. 10, the Institutional Actions Council of the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) approved continuing the accreditation of Barton Community College without concern.
This approval comes following a site visit from a peer review team this past October. A team of five reviewers from as many states visited the Barton County campus to review Barton operations and met with members of the Barton administration, staff, faculty and students.
“Barton Community College continues to excel as an institution,” the review team stated in its final report. “The College’s mission is embodied in numerous learning opportunities provided for its students and community members.”
Barton Chief Accreditation Officer Myrna Perkins led Barton’s preparations for this institution-wide initiative.
“The Barton family’s engagement in this visit brought the Barton story to life,” she said. “We put ‘community’ in community college, and they thought that was top-notch.”
Perkins said that Barton’s reaffirmation is critical because it allows participation in federal financial aid programs and helps ensure courses meet the accreditations standards of quality, which allows students to transfer earned credits to other institutions more easily.
The final step in the reaffirmation process requires Barton to report its choice of accreditation pathway to HLC for the next reaffirmation, which will be held during the 2032-2033 academic year. The college’s accreditation committee will submit a recommendation for approval by the Board of Trustees at the Jan. 24 meeting.
For more information, contact Chief Accreditation Officer Myrna Perkins at perkinsm@bartonccc.edu or (620) 792-9201