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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Second call for Middle States Volunteers


Dear Faculty and Staff,

MCC is now beginning its decennial re-accreditation process with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).  As we embark on this re-accreditation process, one of the goals is to make our work as transparent and inclusive as possible. Toward that end, we are inviting members of the college community who are interested in participating in the self-study process to let us know of their interest.

For those of you who have never participated in a self-study before, here is a thumbnail sketch.  Once each decade each college and university undergoes a multi-year process to examine and affirm its regional accreditation as a quality higher education institution. Our regional agency, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education based in Philadelphia, has crafted fourteen standards—or Characteristics of Excellence—that each accredited institution must meet. (These 14 standards are briefly described below.)  The re-accreditation process takes a little over two years involving the selection of a self-study model, the formation of a steering committee and several study teams to examine the college’s compliance with these standards, the writing of an extensive college self-study report, and the visit and subsequent report of a visiting review team from peer institutions. 

Study Teams

14 Study Teams will be formed. Each study team will consist of one chair and 5-7 members who will perform a comprehensive review of a particular standard. Team members and chairs should anticipate a significant time commitment from September 2014 through August 2015. This will largely involve researching, analyzing, and drafting a study of the specific standard.

While it is certainly true that accreditation is a high stakes mandate with critical consequences for institutions that do not receive accreditation status, our focus here should really be on using the self-study process as an opportunity to thoroughly review the entire college and to examine its mission and goals and how we assess progress toward them. We believe we are well-positioned to conduct a meaningful and internally useful accreditation self-study and to use the process to become even better in all that we do—thanks in no small part to the great work that the college's faculty and staff do on an ongoing basis.

How to Participate?

If you are interested in participating in the college’s self-study, and have a particular standard or standards you wish to work on, please email Bill Dunning (<"mailto:wdunning@monroecc.edu">) or Holly Preische (<"mailto:hwynnpreische@monroecc.edu">) no later than February 28, 2014. 

Sincerely yours,
Bill Dunning and Holly Preische

Co-Chairs, Middle States Self-Study

14 Standards:

Standard 1: Mission and Goals: The institution's mission clearly defines its purpose within the context of higher education and indicates who the institution serves and what it intends to accomplish.

Standard 2: Planning, Resource Allocation, and Institutional Renewal: An institution conducts ongoing planning and resource allocation based on its mission and goals, develops objectives to achieve them, and utilizes the results of its assessment activities for institutional renewal.

Standard 3: Institutional Resources: The human, financial, technical, physical facilities and other resources necessary to achieve an institution's mission and goals are available and accessible.

Standard 4: Leadership and Governance: The institution's system of governance clearly defines the roles of institutional constituencies in policy development and decision-making.

Standard 5: Administration: The institution's administrative structure and services facilitate learning and research/scholarship, foster quality improvement, and support the institution's organization and governance.

Standard 6: Integrity: In the conduct of its programs and activities involving the public and the constituencies it serves, the institution demonstrates adherence to ethical standards and its own stated policies, providing support for academic and intellectual freedom.

Standard 7: Institutional Assessment: The institution has developed and implemented an assessment process that evaluates its overall effectiveness in achieving its mission and goals and its compliance with accreditation standards.

Standard 8: Student Admissions and Retention: The institution seeks to admit students whose interests, goals, and abilities are congruent with its mission and seeks to retain them through the pursuit of the students' educational goals.

Standard 9: Student Support Services: The institution provides student support services reasonably necessary to enable each student to achieve the institution's goals for students.

Standard 10: Faculty: The institution's instructional, research, and service programs are devised,
developed, monitored, and supported by qualified professionals.

Standard 11: Educational Offerings: The institution's educational offerings display academic content, rigor, and coherence appropriate to its higher education mission.

Standard 12: General Education: The institution's curricula are designed so that students acquire and demonstrate college-level proficiency in general education and essential skills, including at least oral and written communication, scientific and quantitative reasoning, critical analysis and

reasoning, and technological competency.

Standard 13: Related Educational Activities: The institution's programs or activities that are characterized by particular content, focus, location, mode of delivery, or sponsorship meet appropriate standards.

Standard 14: Assessment of Student Learning: Assessment of student learning demonstrates that, at graduation, or other appropriate points, the institution's students have knowledge, skills, and competencies consistent with institutional and appropriate higher education goals.

Bill Dunning and Holly Preische
Co-Chairs, Middle States Self-Study
02/25/2014