fTlIHARPER HAPPENINGSApril 30, 1971

vol. 6 NO. 3Special Edition

North Central Report ConcludesTax lncrease Needed by Harper

Following is the conclusion statementfrom the North Central Associationrsaccrediting report on Harper College:

r'The college has abte administrativeleadership that has achieved a great dealin a short time: excellent facilities;comprehensive progran of instrrrction;capable faculty and sub-administrators ;large enrollment including adults;good relationships with colleges anduniversities of the area; excellentfinancial and communiff support duringthe rapid development of the college.

Tax Increase Neededtrlhe only serious concem appears to bethe failure to pass a needed ta:r ler4y

increase last spring. The sta.ff nnd theBoard of Tmstees are optimistic aboutpassing a levy in tle fall of 1971 --and they are making plans for a vigorotrscanpaign. The economic charasteristicsof the district zuggest that adequatefunds can be obtained thnough a vigorouseffort to interpret the services which canbe rendered with additional funds. I'

William Rainey Harper College has reached itsmost important milestone to date with t.he

granting of fuIl accreditation by the NorthCeutral Association of Colleges and SeondarrySchools effective March 31, 1971.

Harper, the first prblic two-year institrtionestablished under the Illinois junior collegeact of 1.965, was approved by voter referendumin the spring of that year.

In a"nnouncing the action by the accreditingbody, Harper president Robert E. Lahti stat€dthat the college has reached tlis importantmilestone with all due haste for a new instiAr-tion which bas taken on the challenge of pmvid-ing comprehensive commtmity college servicesto its constitrencies.

'llhe Nortl Central Association has fullyaccredited Harper College withort qualifica-tion, " Dr. Labti said. He went on to notetbat some colleges receive qpalificatims totJreir accreditation, ufrich meams that theexaminers will be back in three to five yearsto re-assess the qualifying conditions.

Credits Unquestioned

According to Dr. Lahti, full accreditationmea.as that the collegers credits and quality ofinstruction have unquestioned recipnoci8among all institutions of higber education.

'This is most imp,ortant to qrr shrdents andtheir families, while at tle sa.me tine it is atribute to our facult5l, " he notd. Dr. Lahtiadded that accreditation also means t.hat thefasutty is freer to prrsue innovative appnoachesto the learning pnocess, that the college willbe considered more favorably for tJre awardingof foundadon and governnent gFants, and tbatmore large corporations will reimburse em-ployees who further their education at Harper.

The North Central Association based itsfinrl degision on accreditation for Harperpartly on the results of a report preparedby the six-member accreditation exarnining

Harper reaches important milestoneacording to schedule set in 1967

N, Central Grants Full Accreditation

team which visited tbe college early in Janrar5rthis year. 'lfhe decisionwas alsobased onan exhaustive self-strdy of llarper made b5r thecollege faculty last year rrlil mY <lwn appear:rncebefore the final examining board in Chicagolate in March,' Dr. Lahti explained.

The me serious ooncern abort Harper notedin the Z?-fr.ge North Central relnrt "altpearsto be the failure to pass a needed ta- leryincrease last spring (March, 1970). tt However,the report went on to note that the economiccbaracteristics of the Harper digtrict sugesttlat adequate funds can be obtained thrrugha vigorous effort to inteqpret the serviceswhich can be given to the omnunit5r thranghadditional frmds.

Ilr. Lahti relnrted that Harper initiated theaccreditation proceas at the earliest lnssibleopporhrnity. "In 1967, the firstyear ofclasses,. a North Central team was invit€d tovisit Harper, " he recalled. 'Ve ivere con-&rcting only evening clagses in leased facilities.Our initial slplLtnsnf, was 11 700. The frrstvisit resulted in,our being granted tcorreslDn-dent statrs' for accreditation. "

As a correslnndent, Harper became the sub-ject of an ortensive North Central shtdy byfqrr examiners vfio visit€d the college in 1968

and strdied key areas of administration,curricula, facult5r, quatity of instmction, andphilosophy. The accrediting bodyts evaluationof its 1968 strdy resulted in Harper advancingto candidatgs-taEs*U[A-p:il.*1_969, ! _ .

(continued on otler side)

Arblished mmthly for citlzens of, HarIErCollege District #512 by the CommuBity Rela-tions OIfice.

Robert E. Iahg, hesideht

Board of Trutes

Milton C. HmsenPalatineChairmu

Jessallm M. Nicklas Joseph C. MortffArlington HeightsS€cretaty

lnvemeaavice Chairmu

Ricberd L. JohnsnArlington Heights

Lawrence R. ItoatsArli4lon Heights

Ross MillerMout Prospect

D. Ewene NrgentFalatine

Harper College HAPPENINGS

lte North Central Association examiniry team,xthich visited Harper for two days in Januar5r,issued r Z?-pa.ge relnrt on the college. Theregnrt analyz-J the variors streryths ofHarper.

North Centrals six me;iber examining teamrelnrted that the educational task of Harper"quite proper$r addresses itsef to a broadraoge ofprograms and services. .....Transferand occqrational (vocational-techical) curricrrlaare offered. $rbstantial beginnings have beenmade in the areas of adult education, continu-iry education aud communit5r services, includingcrrltural actlvities. t'

Faculty Well Prepared

The accrediting body said Harperts facultyttis well prepared and experienced.... Eigbty-rnre per ce,nt of the full-time facult5r holdmaster's dgrees in their teac,ning Eelds,rnerTr with adfitional college credits and eight1rcr cent hold doctorates. Facnlt5r were chos€nto avoid the pregnnderence of forner highschool teachers often fo.ud in communit5rolleges. The facult5r app-^ars to accept sin-cere$r, the classical concept of the communit5rcollege, with concern that each shrdentbegiven ample opporhnity b prove yfiat he cando. tt

Several sectiona of the North Central reportrecognized the efforts towaxd accotmtabilitywhich are given tigt priority at Harper. Theexaminers observed tll'he institrtion is to becommended for tle develolrment of a ratherextensive facufty evaluation system whichcombines self-evahrations, sulrerisor evalu-ations, and sfrrded evaluations into a totalappraisal 'h4 is used in determining facufrypromotios and merit increases.

'lfhe plan of developing prroce&rres for theevaluation of adninistrators by objective(rnanngeme,nt by obiectives) is imaginativeand inmvative... .In essence, it wasal4nrent tbat t'here is a sqrnd organizationalstnrcirre which is well staffed with verycapble administrators. Good leadershipwas obsenled tlrfigbdrt the institrtion.'?

Curricula Relevant

librth Centralts examiners also zeroed iu onthe relevance of Harperts curricula, report-ing tlat ntransf,er programs are well designedagd are reported to be articulated adeqratelywithfour-year colleges in the area. A recentfollow-up stud5r has verified tl.at strdents areable to transfer ttreir credits zuccessfirlly.

rfCareer programs have been developed inconsultation with a citizensf advisory comrnit-tee and, generally, these cutricula attract anacceptable mrmber of students... . ..Approxi-mately 28 per cent of the total (fall, 1970)head countwas in career prograrns. Thisprolnrtion is expected to increase.

flthe college is investigatlng the need forse.veral additional car@r programs. Theprinary enphasis has been upon curriculauihich serve strdents of average or betteracademic qualifications. This emphasis iser<plnined, in part, on tle basis of 'he favorableeconomic level of the fa.milies within tleservice area of the college. tt

(continued on other side)

Asediting body issues dep6 reportilalyzilrg Harper's varied strengths

Accrediting body issues depth reportanalyzing Harper's varied strengths

(continued from other side)Drstruction at Harper, the accrediting bodyobserved, is more thaa satisfactory. trThe

leadership in the instructional area is quanti-tatively commendable. Class size, work load,physical facilities, faculty and admini strativemorale all suggest that the instructionalprogram is very good.

"There are instantces of faculty makinggood use of closed circuit television, comzuterab sisted instruction, audio-hrtorial instruc-tion and basic firtorial techniques. Facultyorientation and in- service professionaldevelopment projects are provided for bothfull-time and part time instruction.'l

Student AchievementProof of the pudding, the achievement ofHarper students, was recognized in theexaminerst report. 'tThis inference @oodstudent achievement) is supported by: gradesearned at Harper College; a follow-up studyof the graduates of June 1969, whereingraduates rated the institrtion as satisfactory,and a follow-up study that reported 90 percent of the respondents, who were enrolledin four-year colleges, were maintaining gradepoint averages of 2.0 (C) or better. I'

Hardware and systems at Harper whichdirectly support the instructional programswere noted I'outstanding" by the North Centralexaminers. They reported 'rHarper Collegehas an outstanding artay of instructionalmedia provided by the Learning ResourcesCenter.. .. . Chief among these is the library,which currently consists of about 36, 000

volumes and some 500 periodicals. . . . Basedon most recent figures, Harper College rankseighth in volumes held, fourth in number ofperiodicals, and third in microfilm holdingsamong the 35 jurrior colleges in Illinois. . .The lower floor of the Learning ResourcesCenter is devoted to storage and productionfacilities, television studios, and otherinstructional services. rl

Student ServicesThe area of student services also receivedcompliments in the North Central report.Shrdent couaseling, admissions, financialaids and placement, food services, athletics,and shrdent activities were cited as having

"capable. leadership. " The accreditingexaminers also noted that Harperrs counselingcenter 'ts one of the few commurrity collegeunits which is accredited by the AmericanPersonnel and Guidance Association.. . . Al1iu all, the tecbnical operations within studentservices may be cbatactetized as superior.rl

Harperrs business affairs office was highlypraised in the accrediting report for itsrole in managing the allocation and expendi-hrres of capital and operating funds. Theexaminers stated ttAccounting aud auditingprocedures are in accordanrce wittr state laws,and information concerning the businessoperations of the college is readily available.

F\rther, the vice president of business affairshas a good a.nalysis of the financial supportwhich the institution will need in the yearsahead. Budget projections, including estimatedi.ncome, which appear to be quite realistic,have been prepared for each year throughL974-75... .. extensive utitzation is made ofthe computer center in providing data for usein making management decisions. Budgetprojections have been remarkably accurate.tt

Long-Range Planning

Harperrs overall long-range planning mode,established by the president last fall, wasrecogrrized by the e:caminers as a strongpoiot. They observed that 'tA good set ofitems were identified for consideration, aspart of a long-range planning decision matrix.. .. .Items to be considered iaclude thegeographic area that Harper College shouldserve in the future; the number and t5rpes ofshrdents to be served; the kinds of progr?rnsa.nd services 'hat should be offered; the kindsof curriculum changes and instructionalstratery innovations that should be made;the implications of such development uponcampus and physical environment; the kind offinancial pla.n needed; the concepts of organiza-tional structure for tf,re institrtion. Implicitin this charge is the consideration of a possiblesecond camFrs for Harper College that wouldserve an augmented district rsashing to thenortheast of the present district. "

Gove rnanc e

Governance of Harper College by its Boardof Trustees was recogrrized by the NorthCentral exa:niners as a keystone to the suc-cess of the college. The examiners statedthat t'The Board of Trustees of Harper Collegehas a significant role in the governance of thecollege as defined by state statutes. Thelocal Board constihrtes the civic bcdy throughwhich the State Board @linois Junior CollegeBoard) communicates with ttre college. Yetthe local Board has adequate authority toprovide a program of education commensuratewith the needs of the citizens of its district. . .. . The examiners met with four members ofthe Board and found them to be well informed,alert, energetic a:rd keenly interested in thefurther growth and development of thecollege. . . .. . The local trustees and theadministrators of the college seem to workcooperatively in a climate of mutual respect.'r

oPEil HOUSE!HANPER HOT DOG DAYS

r Franks or Sloppy Joe's withFries!

o Campus Tours!o Gymnastic Show!o Souvenirs for Kiddies!

Bring the entire tamily outto dinner. 550 per person.Beverage included.

SUNDAY-MAY 16, 2 to 5 p.m.

TUESDAY-MAY 18, 6 to 9 p.m.

WEDNESDAY-MAY 19, 6 to 9 p.m.

College Center, Building "A"

Harper reaches important milestoneaccording to schedule set in 1967

May 10 Concert: Harper orchestra andchorus will present Stravinslryrs 'rSJrmphonyof PsaLmstt and Bachts ttDouble ViolinConcerto" in College Center Lounge at 8 p. m.Free and open to the public.

May 11 Lecture: Sherman Skolnick, legalresearcher. Topic: itCook County CourtSystem. " Room E-106, 12:15 p. m.Free and open to the public.

Open House (see ad above).

l&y l_1 Annual Fashion Design Style Showproduced by fashion design career programstudents. College Center Lounge, 8 p. m.Free and open to the public.

. . . . And don?t forget to see art instructorJohn Knudsenf s one-man art show in RoomF-132 in the Learning Resources Centerdaily through May 28.

Mav 16. 18. 19

CAMPUS EVENTS

(continued from other side)

Comprehensive ServicesHarper cumently has an enrollment of morethan 6,000 students. Educational programsinclude the first two years of a four-yearbachelorrs degree program, 19 two-yearassociate degree career programs in technicaland semi-professional fields, 21 one-yearcertificate programs in vocational fields(to which several programs have been addedsince January, L97L), a generous mix ofevening non-credit short courses, a co-curriqular program of cultural arts activities,extension courses from four-year institutions,plus special interest workshops and seminars.Harper also operates a full-time communit5rcounseling center accredited by the AmericanPersonnel and Guidance Association and adental hygiene clinic accredited by theAmerican Dental Association.

Because Harper was granted accreditationwithout qualification by the North CentralAssociation, the accrediting body will notreturn to re-evaluate Harper for ten moreyears unless specifically requested to do so

by college officials.

Community Support

The college and the communit5r have goodreason to be proud of the accomplishments ofthe past six years. Dr the begiruring of 1965,there were no institutions of higher educationin the northwest suburbs. Just six yearslater, residents have a community collegeserving the educational needs of students fromteenager to senior citizen in an excitinglearrring environment with a faculty that issecond to none.

None of this would have been possible withoutthe excellent support of the communit5r duringthe rapid development of the college from thedream to the reality -- up to full accreditation.

Nonprofif Org.U. S. POSTAGE

PAIDPalaline, lllinoisPermit No. 54

frt William Rainey Harper Gollege

ffU Atsonquin and Rosette Roads patarine, rltinois 60067

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