by Elizabeth Meade Our Reaccreditation through Middle States Commission on Higher Education Presentation to the Board of Trustees, May 11, 2012

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 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 1 st ; Spring 2013 MSCHE selects the team; Working groups submit a draft chapter (March 15 th ); 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 Institutional Effectiveness: How does the college meet its mission and other plans? How does the college use data to improve its operations? “Deciding where we want to go. Making sure we get there!” Linda Suskie

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