By: Justin Bannister
The Higher Learning Commission will continue to accredit New Mexico State University through the 2027-28 academic year. According to a letter sent to NMSU Chancellor Garrey Carruthers this week by the HLC, the university met all criteria for accreditation with no concerns.
“This is a clean bill of health for our great university,” Carruthers said. “We wouldn’t be here, with this kind of response, without our faculty, staff, students and the greater NMSU community doing such an excellent job. I particularly want to applaud Provost Dan Howard and everyone who worked on this effort.”
Through the accreditation process NMSU evaluates the quality of its academic programs, operations and support services. It also provides a road map for improvement, if needed. NMSU was first accredited by the HLC in 1926. Its last accreditation process took place in 2008. This new, 10-year accreditation includes NMSU’s main campus in Las Cruces as well as NMSU Grants.
Shelly Stovall, NMSU’s executive director of accreditation, led planning for the HLC site visit, which took place late last year. She also led NMSU’s Quality Initiative, kept the writing teams on schedule, worked with NMSU’s Faculty Senate on critical academic policy changes and incorporated the contributions of the writing teams into the final draft of the Assurance Argument for reaffirmation of accreditation.
“The Assurance Argument writing teams were, of course, central to our reaffirmation of accreditation efforts,” Howard said. “I am grateful to all of the team members, but especially to the team leaders: Kevin Boberg, Luis Vazquez, David Smith, Kathy Brook, D’Anne Stuart and Bernadette Montoya.”
Howard also thanked the university community which provided public comments, met with the HLC review team, or attended public forums.
“We received a lot of great comments during this process, including many from our NMSU alumni,” Carruthers said. “We also heard that the quality of our self-study was outstanding. One reviewer noted it was one of the best ones they had ever seen. It was clear to the HLC site visit team that NMSU faculty and staff are enthusiastic about our mission and are part of a caring community.”
Carruthers said stronger institutions are offered the opportunity by the HLC to stay on the open pathway, which allows the opportunity to pursue improvement projects that meet the institution’s current needs and aspirations. NMSU plans to remain on the open pathway over the next 10 years.
Copies of all NMSU accreditation documents can be found at https://accreditation.nmsu.edu/.
