|
In the United States, regional associations reaccredit colleges, and peers
evaluate the institution’s ability to continue to carry out its educational
mission. Institutions submit reports annually to their regional association-in
our case, the Middle States Association of Colleges & Schools. Every
ten years, the institution prepares a comprehensive self-study, which is
used as the basis for a Site Visit by a team of peers selected from colleges
throughout the region.
During the period October 3-6, an eight-member team consisting of faculty,
staff, and administrators from colleges in the region visited Alvernia to
conduct this decennial visit. Dr. Scott Miller, president of Wesley College,
chaired the team. Dr. Miller will use materials provided by the other seven
members to prepare a report to the Middle States. He will also make a recommendation
regarding reaccreditation, but that recommendation remains confidential
until the Commissioners announce their decision.
Dr. Miller delivered a preliminary report in an oral presentation to campus
on October 6, addressing each of the fourteen standards outlined in the
Middle States handbook on accreditation. He offered commendations to certain
programs and activities, suggestions for consideration by the college community,
and recommendations that must be addressed by Alvernia within a time frame
specified by the MSA Commissioners. We will not know that time frame until
the final report is issued in spring 2005.
Alvernia was commended for:
- The organization of the Division of Graduate & Continuing Studies,
especially the high involvement of faculty in this endeavor
- The branding campaign launched last year to build the college’s
image
- Our efforts in information technology and library improvements
- The consolidation of academic programming, enrollment management,
and student life under the provost
- The attention paid to retention and student satisfaction
- Enrollment growth with concurrent attention to individual students
- The efforts of the Board of Trustees and the administration in improving
shared governance
There were a number of suggestions for improvement and recommendations.
We will take them all seriously, as they can provide a blueprint for continuous
improvement at the college. Additionally, there are four specific recommendations
for us to address:
- We must develop a program to improve students’ information
literacy.
- We must develop assessment programs for our core curriculum (the
arts & sciences courses every student must take), and for each
academic major.
- We must investigate other models of faculty governance immediately.
- Because we are tuition dependent, we must monitor our enrollment
plan carefully and develop contingency plans should we fail to reach
enrollment goals.
I am happy to say that we were not surprised by any of the recommendations,
and that we were already working on several of them before the Team visited.
Dr. Miller provided the College a preliminary draft in order that we might
correct factual errors. He then sent his final copy to the Middle States Commissioners
and to the College. All trustees have been provided a copy of the report, and
a copy has been made available to college faculty and staff on the Shared Drive
of Alvernia’s internal network.
My own assessment of the report is as follows:
- We are clearly in good shape now, but must be vigilant in making
continuous improvements.
- Much of the credit for our commendations goes to the executive management
team and the deans, and especially to the provost.
- The observations of the team regarding the high level of activity
and change built on enrollment growth suggest to me that Board must
be careful in selecting the new president-one who can maintain high
level of excellence as enrollment growth slows (as it will someday).
- Following up on that: I believe the trustees must hire a president
who will focus her/his efforts on developing source of revenue other
than tuition. That may mean the next president will be less visible
on campus (and hence will have to rely even more on the provost and
other members of executive management to carry out day-to-day operations
independent of her/his direct supervision). The new president must
be more visible to donors and equally visible to community leaders
who will be the ultimate sources of non-tuition revenue in the future.
The Middle States Commission will meet in the spring of 2005 to act upon
the accreditation status of the College.
Vali G. Heist
Director of Policy, Planning, and Accreditation
Alvernia University
Francis Hall, Room 407
400 St. Bernardine Street
Reading, PA 19607
P: 610-796-8486
F: 610-796-8295
E: vali.heist@alvernia.edu
Updated:
December 15, 2006
Your comments
are welcome.
|
