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The National Herald - May 4-10, 2019
New England Commission of Higher Education
Issues Official Notation to HC
By Theodore Kalmoukos
_____________________
The main administration building of Hellenic College and Holy
Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in one of the most prominent areas of Brookline Massachusetts.
BOSTON –The New England
Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) at its meeting
April 12, 2019, issued an official
Notation for Hellenic College asserting that “the College’s accreditation may be in jeopardy
if current conditions continue or
worsen with respect to the Commission’s standards on Planning
and Evaluation and Institutional
Resources.”
The NECHE will be monitoring the School closely in order
to assess its situation and decide
accordingly.
As The National Herald has
been reporting for more than a
year now Hellenic College and
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox
School of Theology are in dire
conditions academically, administrative, and certainly financially. As a result, the president
of the institution Fr. Christopher
Metropulos was abruptly dismissed two days before Holy
Week and was replaced by interim president Metropolitan
Methodios of Boston. Fr.
Metropulos was even prohibited
from participating as a liturgist
in Holy Week Services at Holy
Cross Chapel. No explanation
has been given thus far as to
what exactly prompted Fr.
Metropulos’ dismissal.
The statement of the New
England Commission of Higher
Education reads as follows:
“At its meeting April 12,
2019, the New England Commission of Higher Education
(NECHE) voted to issue a Notation with respect to Hellenic
College, Inc. because the Commission found that the College’s
accreditation may be in jeopardy if current conditions continue or worsen with respect to
the Commission’s standards on
Planning and Evaluation and Institutional Resources.
An institution issued a Notation will be closely monitored
by the Commission, including a
focused evaluation within two
years to assess the institution’s
success in addressing the identified concerns.
If the Commission finds the
institution has successfully addressed the concerns, it will remove the Notation and specify
further monitoring. If the Commission has reason to believe
that the institution may or may
not meet one or more Standards
for Accreditation, the Commission will ask the institution to
show cause why it should not
be on probation or why its accreditation should not be withdrawn. If the Commission finds
that the concerns have not been
sufficiently addressed, the Commission may issue a continued
Notation.”
His Eminence Metropolitan
Methodius of Boston, Interim
President of HCHC, commented
on the action taken by the Commission. “We want to assure our
students, faculty, staff, donors,
and our community that our
Board of Trustees and administration are working with NECHE
to expeditiously remedy the situation to meet NECHE’s standards. Our academic programs
and educational commitment
remain strong and we look forward to addressing the areas of
notation to further strengthen
Hellenic College.”
NECHE, formerly operating
as the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of
NEASC, is recognized by the U.S.
Department of Education as a reliable authority as to the quality
of education. The Commission
accredits 220 degree-granting institutions in the six New England
states and eleven American-style
institutions in other countries.
Hellenic College, Inc. was
first accredited by the Commission on Institutions of Higher
Education (now NECHE) in
1974. It is a private, independent institution encompassing
the undergraduate Hellenic College and the graduate Holy
Cross Greek Orthodox School of
Theology.”
[ The National Herald - May 4-10, 2019 - p. 4 ]
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