Delta State University President Dr. John M. Hilpert was elected to the prestigious position of Chair of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges on Tuesday at the organization’s annual conference held in Atlanta.
Hilpert joins former University of Mississippi Chancellor Dr. Robert Khayat as the only representatives of Mississippi universities to hold the position with the educational accreditation agency.
He will assume the duties of Chair in 2010 after serving as 2009 Vice Chair and having served on the 2008 Executive Council of the Commission.
“It is an honor to be elected by my colleagues,” Hilpert said, “I look forward to the challenges ahead and to representing Mississippi on a commission that does such valuable work for higher education.”
“John has provided strong, fair and conscientious leadership as the Vice Chair of the Commission during the past year,” said President for the SACS Commission on Colleges Dr. Belle Wheelan. “His understanding of the Commission activities coupled with his patient demeanor and thorough understanding of all issues make him the perfect choice to be the next Chair. I sincerely look forward to working with him as we move the business of the Board forward.”
A Missouri native, Hilpert became the seventh president of Delta State University in 2003, after six successful years as president of Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota. During more than 30 years in higher education administration, he has served as executive vice president and acting president of the University of South Dakota and as a vice president at Thiel College in Pennsylvania and executive assistant to the president at Suomi College (now Finlandia University) in Michigan.
Throughout his career, Hilpert has provided leadership for various organizations on boards, task forces, and committees. He was appointed in 2004 by Governor Haley Barbour to serve on Mississippi’s Council for Education Technology. For seven years, Hilpert was a member of the South Dakota Workforce Development Council, a policy group appointed by that state’s governor. As a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, he served as an appointee to both the Commission for the Rural/Regional Agenda and the Task Force on Teacher Education, as well as being elected to the organization’s Council of State Representatives for both South Dakota and Mississippi. Hilpert has served as a governing board member for two Chambers of Commerce, and has been co-chair of a hospital financing task force. He has testified before several state legislative committees and a select committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Since 2003, Hilpert has served as board president for the Delta Health Alliance, a regional non-profit corporation with a $25 million budget. He was elected president in 2008 of the Mississippi Association of Colleges and Universities, an organization of all public and private, two-year and four-year postsecondary institutions in the state.
“Dr. Hilpert will represent Mississippi well in this distinguished role,” Commissioner of Higher Education Dr. Hank Bounds said. “He continues to work tirelessly to ensure Delta State University remains a first-rate institution offering quality degree programs. I have no doubt that he will bring the same level of commitment and passion to SACS.”
The SACS Commission on Colleges is the regional body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states. The Commission’s mission is the enhancement of educational quality throughout the region and it strives to improve the effectiveness of institutions by ensuring that institutions meet standards established by the higher education community that address the needs of society and students. It serves as the common denominator of shared values and practices among the diverse institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Latin America and other international sites approved by the Commission on Colleges that award associate, baccalaureate, master’s, or doctoral degrees.
