News and Notes 05/18/2017

Today Bethany College's faculty and staff members received one of the Ad Hoc Roundtable's honorary cans of Lindsborg Elbow Grease for their hard work the past two years. Ad Hoc representative and Bethany College board chair Corey Peterson told a lunch gathering of faculty and staff that "their extra effort on the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) report, in addition to providing a great experience for the students with less resources, is nothing short of phenomenal." Corey presented the honorary Elbow Grease to Bethany's President William Jones, who in turn presented it to John Mullen, Ph.D, chair of the department of religion and philosophy and coordinator of he HLC Assurance Report activities on campus. Dr. Mullen and his team gathered and prepared sheaves of documentation that made the case for Bethany's removal from probation by the HLC, which accredits colleges as academic institutions of quality. Bethany College already has cleared a second hurdle for removal from probation. A report from the Institutional Actions Council (IAC) of the HLC recommends "removal from probation and placement on the standard pathway" of accreditation for Bethany. The final hurdle will come during a final HLC hearing in several weeks. ​