Dave Nething, Republican senator from District 12 and past president of the Jamestown Rotary Club, provided the program for the June 22 Rotary meeting.
Nething was selected to the Higher Learning Commission, which is responsible for accreditation of colleges and schools. He works as a board member of the Higher Learning Commission headquartered out of Chicago. Its membership is made up of more than 1,000 colleges, schools and tribal nations in 19 states. It has 40 professional staff and support to provide assistance to the teams.
As a board member, Nething meets with the commission in Chicago four times a year. His expenses are covered, but there is no pay for serving on this commission. The national commission works with a $12 million budget. Base fees are charged to each of the schools of higher education to help support this accrediting body.
Nething said he has enjoyed the opportunity to serve on the commission and shared on the quality of education in the region that North Dakota is a part of. Jamestown College is preparing for an accreditation and they have two years to arrange for this, which demands a great deal of extra work by the professors and staff at Jamestown College. Every college goes through this process. When the commission comes to do the review, those involved with the accrediting committee for the college then spend time with the reviewers and answer questions. The accrediting body can then grant accreditation for 10 years. They can make the accreditation provisional and state the provisions or corrections needed to continue staying as an accredited institution. When a college loses its accreditation, the students' degree does not carry the same value.
The meeting was presided over by President Tom Boerger. Warren Tobin gave the invocation and Gary Riffe and Bev Kennison led the group in music. Gail Martin collected "Happy Dollars" for Rotary projects.
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Boerger reminded Rotary members Harvey Huber, Casey Stoudt, Darrell Losing and Mark Olson that they are responsible for the Mill Hill cleanup. Boerger also said today's meeting will be a Vespers meeting at the Stoudt cabin on the Jamestown Reservoir and will start at 5:30 p.m. All members are encouraged to attend.
The Fargo Rotary Club also presented the Jamestown club a $500 check to help with the Nepal project.
