CTL Director named evaluator for Higher Learning Commission

by Adam Frazier
September 24, 2009

Columbus Center for Teaching and Learning Director Darrin Sorrells, Ph.D., recently was named a member of the Peer Review Corps as a consultant evaluator for the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

As a consultant evaluator, Sorrells will visit and evaluate colleges and universities in a 19-state region. There are currently 1,020 participating institutions including Indiana’s Ball State, Butler, DePauw University, Franklin College, Indiana State University, Indiana University, Purdue University and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.  

Sorrells is one of 948 carefully selected and trained professionals. He will attend formal training in November in Chicago.

“The application process is quite competitive,” said Sarah Marino, Peer Review Corps senior officer. “We basically look for people who have a big picture of institutions. We love people with Darrin’s background because he touches every discipline.”

Sorrells will serve an initial term of three years and from then on can complete five-year renewable terms.

“He will learn a great deal by going to the different institutions,” Marino said. “We serve all types of colleges and universities including community colleges, for-profits, not-for-profits and research institutions.”

“I’m very excited about this opportunity,” Sorrells said. “This will give me a chance to learn from other institutions and share my thoughts, insights and suggestions for improvements with IUPUC.”

The Higher Learning Commission is an independent corporation and one of two Commission members of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, which was founded in 1895 as one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States. It is recognized by the US Department of Education and the Council on Higher Education Accreditation.

HLC accredits degree-granting educational institutions in the North Central region: Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Mexico, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Sorrells, Director of the Columbus Center for Teaching and Learning, is trained to serve as an accreditor for the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education and has served as a grant reviewer for the Department of Education in Washington, D.C.