The University is working towards reaccreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education as the current ten-year period of accreditation comes to an end in 2011.

A steering committee composed of 20 members of the University community met in September to plan the self-study process of evaluation which defines the accreditation process. They will look at fourteen standards of excellence that highlight the institution’s programs and business practices.

Committee co-chairs are Stephen Hahn, associate provost, and Jane Zeff, director of institutional research and assessment.

“Besides the obvious desire to have our regional accreditation reaffirmed, the self-study process should also help us to reconnect with our mission and afford us the opportunity to make sure that everyone is working to ensure students can succeed here,” Zeff says.

Members of the steering committee include Jennifer Bauer, undergraduate student representative; Stephen Betts, marketing and management; Song Chung, physics; Janet Davis-Dukes, academic development; Brian Fanning, information systems; Peter Griswold, special education and counseling; Danielle Liautaud, graduate admissions; Esther Martinez, languages and cultures; Nancy Norville, annual giving; Donna Perry, English; Marc Schaeffer, President’s Office; Elizabeth Stroppel, communication; Maria Tajes, languages and cultures; Pamela Theus, Cheng Library; Nina Trelisky, registration services; Roland Watts, student development; Krystle Whitlock, graduate student representative; and Pamela Winslow, business services.

Barbara Samuel Loftus, a vice president of the Middle States Commission, and the University’s liaison to the Commission, met with numerous University constituents including President Arnold Speert, Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Edward Weil, and other senior administration officials to gather information about the University.

“The self-study process is an opportunity to take a moment in the life of the University to pause and be reflective,” Loftus says. “This is the time to ask, ‘Where are we? Where do we want to go?’ This requires different thinking and different ideas. Accreditation is a vote of confidence to institutional vision.”