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The Open Pathway process includes an Improvement Process, which is a major quality initiative or project which aims to advance the institution to address present concerns or aspirations. The Quality Initiative occurs between years five and nine (e.g., between 2020 and 2024) of the ten-year accreditation cycle. A quality initiative is intended to allow universities to take risks, aim high, and learn from successes and failures.

The quality initiative may take one of three forms:

1. The university designs and proposes its own quality initiative to suit its present concerns or aspirations;
2. The university chooses an initiative from a menu of topics;
3. The university chooses to participate in an HLC-facilitated program such as the Academy for the Assessment of Student Learning or the Academy for Student Persistence and Completion.

For this accreditation cycle, ߣߣÊÓƵ designed its own Quality Initiative Project: Optimizing the Academic Program Portfolio. ߣߣÊÓƵ's project included four interrelated programs:

• Boldly Creative - which provided funding for innovative, net-revenue-generating academic programs;
• Academic Program Evaluation, Improvement & Prioritization (APEIP) - a comprehensive evaluation of all current academic programs;
• ߣߣÊÓƵ Academic Program Incubator (MAPI) - a consultation service for all new academic programs and also serves as an optional service for programs undergoing major revisions; and
• ߣߣÊÓƵ's Academic Program Review - which has been revised into a new, more holistic process called Department Planning & Improvement.

ߣߣÊÓƵ University submitted its Quality Initiative Project Report in fall 2022, and it was approvedby the Higher Learning Commission in May 2023.