Middle States Association of Colleges to evaluate University

Although the snowdrifts have barely disappeared from College Green, the University is already preparing for the April visit of an accrediting committee representing the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. According to Susan Shaman, assistant vice president for planning and analysis, the Middle States Association is one of seven regional agencies responsible for insuring the quality of educational institutions in the United States. Located at 3624 Market Street, Middle States also handles evaluations for schools in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, the District of Columbia and, although it is not exactly a mid-atlantic state, Puerto Rico. Middle States evaluations occur once every 10 years. But every five years between these reviews, schools submit intermediate reports that allow the Middle States Association to monitor their progress. In the months before an evaluation is scheduled to occur, schools form internal committees of faculty, students and administrators to carry out a "self-study," Shaman said. The self-study helps to determine the evaluation's focus. The actual evaluation is then completed by a committee of educators whose members are mutually agreed upon by the school that is being evaluated and the Middle States Association. "They want to balance the team," Shaman said, explaining that both experienced and novice evaluators are recruited for each campus visit. Traditionally, evaluators come from institutions located within the school's own region. But because of the University's cosmopolitan reputation and four unique undergraduate schools, members of this spring's visiting committee are coming from across the country, Shaman said. Among those who will be on campus from April 9 through 12 are William Richardson, president of Johns Hopkins University, who will serve as committee chairperson, and Vanderbilt University Provost Thomas Burish, who will serve associate chairperson. Shaman said other committee members have been culled from the faculty of Princeton and Cornell Universities and the University of California at Los Angeles. "We will have some very thoughtful educators on our campus for two days," Shaman said, adding that the University community will be able to use the committee as a "sounding board" with respect to the issue of undergraduate education, the theme of this year's study. Provost Stanley Chodorow said the group will concentrate on progress the Provost's Council on Undergraduate Education will have made by April toward implementing the 21st Century Project on the Undergraduate Experience. "There is no question that the University's accreditation will be reaffirmed, so that self-study that we do and the visit can focus on a topic that is important now," he said. "We will treat the group as a group of experienced academics from peer institutions who can give us an outsider's view of what we are doing or talking about." Shaman echoed Chodorow's sentiments. "Frankly, our accreditation is not in jeopardy," she said. "We want [the committee members] to be engaged and help us to think through something we'll be doing very seriously in the next few years." Chodorow said that during the committee's visit, members will have "the run of the campus and will be able to talk with whomever they wish" -- including informal conversations with students on Locust Walk or in dining halls.

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