Staff Role and Responsibility

HLC staff shall be ultimately responsible to the President of HLC, or to any intermediate supervisor who reports to the President, who in turn shall be responsible to the Board of Trustees. The staff shall assist institutions in the accreditation processes, implement HLC policy, and carry out other responsibilities given it by the President but is not a representative for the institution in the accreditation relationship. HLC staff shall have the discretion to establish and modify procedures in keeping with the intention and spirit of HLC policy.

Institutional Liaison

A staff member of HLC shall be assigned to each member institution to serve as the primary liaison between HLC and the institution, and to ensure that the institution receives effective service.

HLC Staff on Non-Evaluative Visits 

The staff liaison may conduct a non-evaluative Staff Campus Visit based on an institution’s invitation. Such a visit has no bearing on the outcomes of the institution’s pending evaluations, or any of HLC’s procedural decisions concerning the institution. 

HLC Staff on Evaluation Visits

The staff liaison or other staff member may accompany the evaluation team on a visit.

HLC shall determine whether the staff liaison or other HLC staff member will accompany a specific evaluation visit. The President also has the discretion to determine that circumstances warrant having a staff liaison or other staff member present on a visit. Established procedures involving staff constitute presumptive evidence of a grant of Presidential authority to conduct activities in accordance with such procedures.

The role of a staff member accompanying any evaluation visit may be (1) to support the team as needed in its evaluation, including with guidance on HLC policy and procedure; (2) to clarify HLC processes related to the visit to institutional representatives; (3) as part of an onboarding or training exercise; or (4) to observe the visit. When preparing to take any action regarding the institution as a result of the visit, the Board of Trustees or Institutional Actions Council may ask the staff member to discuss the evaluation visit and the institution’s accreditation history, but the staff member will not prepare any written evaluation separate from the team report. HLC may authorize staff to prepare memoranda, analyses, summations or resolutions for HLC decision-making bodies based on established procedures.

Staff Objectivity and Conflict of Interest

The President has final authority for making all determinations regarding objectivity and conflict of interest. Staff shall adhere to internal policies and procedures established by HLC to ensure timely and accurate disclosure of circumstances that may lead to the identification and management of any potential conflicts of interest or other objectivity concerns.

Policy History

Last Revised: February 2022
First Adopted: January 1983, November 1991
Revision History: November 2012, November 2020, February 2021, February 2022
Notes: Policies combined in November 2012 – 14.1, 14.2, 15.1. In February 2021, references to the Higher Learning Commission as “the Commission” were replaced with the term “HLC.”