Open Pathway

The Open Pathway: A New Model for Reaffirmation of Accreditation

Oklahoma State University will utilize a new and transformed model for maintaining institutional accreditation, the Open Pathway. The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association, referred to as the HLC, is replacing the Program to Evaluate and Advance Quality with two new Pathways, the Standard Pathway and the Open Pathway. OSU has been approved to adopt the highest accreditation standard represented by the Open Pathway.

The Open Pathway seeks to achieve the following goals:

To enhance institutional value by opening the improvement aspect of accreditation so that institutions may choose Quality Initiatives to suit their current circumstances
To reduce the reporting burden on institutions by utilizing as much information and data as possible from existing institutional processes and collecting them in electronic form as they naturally occur over time
To enhance rigor by checking institutional data annually (Institutional Update) and conducting Assurance Reviews twice in the ten-year cycle
To integrate as much as possible all HLC processes and HLC requests for data into the reaffirmation of accreditation cycle

The Open Pathway separates the continued accreditation process into two components: the Assurance Review and the Quality Initiative

Inside Higher Education published an informative article regarding More Meaningful Accreditation.