At Metropolitan State University of Denver, the task of meeting federal, state and accreditor requirements falls on many shoulders. The University has formed a compliance committee as a point of contact and place to keep all these efforts from winding up at cross purposes.
The committee held its first meeting Sept. 16 and immediately started work on expanding membership to ensure that a host of areas are covered.
The committee was formed based on a question that arose during 2021 Higher Learning Commission peer-review visit (part of MSU Denver’s accreditation process). The issue related to how the University tracks compliance issues, such as reporting to the Environmental Protection Agency and tracking financial aid. Because reporting and tracking duties are spread across a host of areas, peer reviewers recommended that MSU Denver create a compliance committee to avoid duplicating efforts and to improve communication about compliance issues in multiple areas.
The committee plans to meet quarterly. Paul Hitchcock, committee member and assistant to the associate vice president for Curriculum, Academic Effectiveness and Policy Development, is developing a compliance webpage that will outline which compliance activities are occurring and points of contact by area.
In the meantime, compliance issues can be communicated directly to the committee members listed below, to Shaun Schafer, Ph.D., associate vice president for Curriculum and Policy Development, or to Hitchcock.
Committee members:
- Angela Bender, associate director of talent strategy, Human Resources
- Erica Buckland Anderson, director of Curriculum and Catalog
- Jennifer Dechant, executive assistant to the vice president for Administration
- Kerline Eglaus, executive director of Financial Aid and Scholarships
- Mike Hart, chief information-security officer and director of Security
- Jennifer Helgeson, director of Compliance, Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships
- Paul Hitchcock, assistant to the associate vice president for Curriculum, Academic Effectiveness and Policy Development
- Betsy Jinks, director of the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs
- George Middlemist, Ph.D., CPA, associate vice president for Administration and Finance
- Melissa Miller, associate registrar, Records and Registration
- Haley Murphy, online operations and program-development manager, Online Learning
- Sean Petranovich, Ph.D., director of data and analytics
- Mark Pokorny, environmental manager
- Thomas Ragland, associate dean for Student Accountability and Care
- Nick Stancil, J.D., deputy general counsel
- Gregory Sullivan, director, Access Center