Our Reaccreditation through
Middle States Commission on Higher
Education
Presentation to the Board of
Trustees, May 11, 2012
by Elizabeth Meade
What is Middle States?
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education
accredits degree-granting colleges and universities in
the Middle States region, which includes Delaware,
the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New
York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin
Islands, and several locations internationally.
The Commission is a voluntary, non-governmental,
membership association that defines, maintains, and
promotes educational excellence across institutions
with diverse missions, student populations, and
resources. It examines each institution as a whole,
rather than specific programs within institutions.
Cedar Crest & Middle States
Cedar Crest College has been a
continuous member of Middle States
since 1944.
Reaccreditation Cycle
■ Major Self-study due every 10 years
– CCC’s last decennial report was 2004
■ Periodic Program Reviews due every 5
years
– CCC’s last PRR was accepted November
2009
■ New self-study process beginning now, re-
accreditation expected Spring 2014
Decennial Review
Decennial Review
1) Comprehensive Self Study of the entire
institution based on the Characteristics of
Excellence.
2) The final report will be approximately 100
pages
• Contains 8 Chapters
• Make suggestions and
recommendation
3) Supporting Materials will be at least 3,000 to
5,000 pages
4) There will be no fewer than 200 separate and
unique supporting documents
Decennial Review Purpose
1) Strengthen Cedar Crest through the next
decade;
2) Demonstrate Compliance with the 14
Standards;
3) Demonstrate to our Constituents that our
institution has value.
Decennial Review Time Line
Spring 2012
• Working groups are formed;
• Self-Study Design Document is created
• MSCHE Liaison visits Cedar Crest
Fall 2012
•Working Group Training;
• Working Group meetings;
• A progress report is written on December 1st;
Spring 2013
• MSCHE selects the team;
• Working groups submit a draft chapter
(March 15th);
• Chapters are edited and synthesized into a
document
Decennial Review Time Line
Fall 2013
• Campus reviews the draft;
• Evaluation chair reviews the self-study report;
• The Board reviews the draft;
• CCC sends a draft copy to the team chair;
• CCC prepares the final version of the self-study
report.
Spring 2014
• Team Visit;
• Team Report;
• Institutional Response.
Summer/Fall 2014
• Middle States meets and acts on the findings.
Decennial Review/The Visiting Team
Middle States will send a visiting team
to interview us on our report and our
progress.
They will judge our effectiveness on…
1) How well are we meeting our
mission?
2) How are we responding to past
suggestions and recommendations
that they’ve made? (Interest in
Standards 3 & 7)
3) Based on the Characteristics of
Excellence.
4) Based on our ability to document our
success, particularly of student
learning.
Decennial Review/Post-Visit
1) Make suggestions;
2) Make recommendations;
3) Vote to affirm our accreditation;
4) There may be a follow-up report
called a Progress Report or a
Monitoring Report
What are they looking for?
■ We are in a new era of accountability
■ Accreditation currently entirely voluntary
■ May be subject of state/federal regulation
in the future
The Era of Accountability
Do you have plans to sustain the
institution?
•Strategic Plan(s).
• Financial Forecasts based on real
assumptions;
•Enrollment Management Plan;
• Facility Master Plan;
MSCHE : Who owns each plan? How are
they being updated?
The Era of Accountability
Are all major programs (academic and non-academic being assessed on a
regular basis?
•What is the process?
• What are the results?
• How do you use the results?
The Era of Accountability
Data Driven Decision-Making
•Do you use data to make decisions?
• Do you use data to improve the
institution (close the loop)?
• How does data link to budgeting?
The Era of Accountability
Communications:
•How do we communicate results?
• How do we improve transparency?
• How do we serve our constituents?
The Era of Accountability
How do we communicate our
results to our constituents?
• Students
•Prospective Students
•Alumnae
•Federal and State Government
•Employees (Faculty, Staff and
Administration)
• Greater Lehigh Community
The Language of Middle States
Assessment is an ongoing and continuous
cycle of self-improvement. Assessment results
are measurable. The results are used for
action.
The Language of Middle States
Close the Loop: Results are used for
improvement; results are used to allocate
resources.
I like to call it meaningful modifications….
The Language of Middle States
“Deciding where we want to go. Making
sure we get there!” Linda Suskie
•Institutional Effectiveness: How does the college
meet its mission and other plans? How does the
college use data to improve its operations?
The Language of Middle States
• Shared Governance looks at whether there is a
process by which constituents participate in the
decision-making of the institution. How broad is it?
What are the steps?
Characteristics of Excellence
Characteristics of Excellence & Cedar
Crest
Cedar Crest:
• Has an active mission;
• Has a culture of assessment;
• Has an active strategic plan;
• Has a body of evidence to document
learning at the program level.
Characteristics of Excellence
& Cedar Crest
Cedar Crest:
Has a very positive reputation:
• U.S. News & World Report (Top
Regional Liberal Arts College, Top
Women’s College)
• Forbes Top 10;
• Multiple Discipline-Related
Accreditations
Characteristics of Excellence & Cedar
Crest
The Future: There is work ahead, but it will be productive.
There will be additional work, but it will be valuable. This
process is about making Cedar Crest a model of excellence.
The End