The Role of the Site Visitor
Brad Elliott Stone
The most important role of the site visitor is to offer an intercollegiate perspective to
particular honors programs and colleges. Different universities have different rationales for having
honors programs and colleges, some of which conflict. The site visitor brings a perspective “from
the outside,” free from the internal arguments and assumptions, and responds to particular
programs and colleges’ questions in light of best practices and national characteristics of honors
programs and colleges. Although these characteristics are neither universal nor necessary (in the
sense of accreditation), they do offer a “view from the outside” against which a program or college
(and the institution in which the program or college resides) can make conscious decisions.
Another crucial role of the site visitor is to help programs and colleges create meaningful
assessment processes. Insofar as the NCHC Site Visitor report follows similar formatting and
addresses similar things, site visits offer programs and colleges have consistent program
evaluations to indicate improvement (or lack of improvement due to changes in the institution, e.g.
budgeting). Thus it is essential (a) that the site visitor report be consistent in its presentation style
over time and (b) that the site visitor report be consistent across programs and colleges of similar
type. In theory, the NCHC model site visit report offers a wonderful template for such consistency,
and, if followed, programs and colleges would be able to have multiple visits over time and receive
similarly-presented information.
In terms of evaluation, the site visitor should be helpful. Insofar as the site visitor is not an
accreditor, the main purpose of site visits is to help programs think through their processes
(curricular, admissions, housing, etc.). If a site visitor does a visit and only reports how the visited
program or college is different from how she does things at her home institution, the opportunity
has been wasted. Similarly, if the visited program or college thinks that everything is fine and is
simply looking for a rubber stamp verifying that fact, the site visitor’s role is technically
unnecessary. In order for a site visit to be successful, both the site visitor and the program or
college visited must enter the process with open minds and hearts. It is the role of the site visitor to
reassure everyone of this fact prior, during, and after the visit. This is especially the case when
either the program or college and the administrator to whom the program or college reports wants
the site visit evaluation to “pick a winner” between the two views. Instead, the site visitor is like a
therapist who makes evaluations and offers suggestions but is ultimately there so that everything
that needs to be said gets said in a spirit of understanding.
A personal reason to be a site visitor is that visiting other programs and colleges allows one
to see different formats of honors education in a variety of settings. The more diverse a site
visitor’s “portfolio,” the better the site visit report can be. It also allows the site visitor to gain ideas
and recommendations to improve their home honors program or college (it is not just about
helping other programs improve). I am interested in how programs and colleges create innovative
opportunities for honors students, and I have no problem telling colleagues from other programs
that I wish to try something they are doing in my own program.