College of Saint Mary maintains its accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) through the Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP).  The HLC can be reached at 230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500, Chicago, Illinois 60604-1413 Phone: 800.621.7440 info@hlcommission.org. Accreditation is a voluntary process that benefits CSM in several ways. It provides external validation of quality, increases stakeholder confidence, enhances faculty recruitment, improves values of credits transferred out, and is needed for programmatic accreditation such as nursing and occupational therapy.

Being an AQIP organization means that we use strategies and processes to examine and improve our current methods. The CSM community believes that infusing quality improvement into our culture is a critical step to better serve our students, employees, and community.  
 
The AQIP processes and their relationships to each other are best illustrated by a pyramid. The foundation of the pyramid is formed by the ongoing processes of AQIP action projects and systems portfolio.

Additional information about CSM’s AQIP action projects can be found at the link on the left side of this page and the Frequently Asked Questions.

The AQIP systems portfolio documents CSM’s key processes, the results measuring the effectiveness of the processes, and descriptions of improvements some resulting from AQIP action projects. It also shows evidence that the institution continues to meet the Higher Learning Commission's five criteria for accreditation. It is submitted to the HLC every four years for review and feedback. Peer reviewers provide actionable, objective feedback to CSM in the form of a systems appraisal. This feedback is used to build our future improvement.  The Systems Portfolio is a valuable resource, both internally and for the university's external audiences.

View CSM’s Systems Portfolio.

Following receipt and thorough review of the systems appraisal, a team of CSM leaders attends a strategy forum where they spent time shaping new strategies, aligning systems, and creating specific action projects.

At the top of the pyramid resting on all the other processes is reaffirmation of accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission. Reaffirmation of accreditation is based on confirmation of evidence of continuous quality improvement and meeting the HLC accreditation criteria. The evidence is confirmed through a check-up visit by a team of peer reviewers. Reaffirmation of accreditation occurs every seven years.

CSM’s AQIP Timeline