Background
by Roger Bolton, Coordinator of the Self Study for Accreditation
This year Williams is engaged in an intensive self study as preparation for continuation of accreditation (“continuation” is the more accurate word, though many people in higher education use the word “reaccreditation” to mean the same thing). Williams is accredited by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (CIHE) of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). NEASC reviews colleges and universities every ten years for continuation of accreditation, and its next review of Williams will be in 2007-2008. As part of the process, it requires a comprehensive self study by the college in the year before its review, and it uses the self study as one of the main pieces of information in that review. Thus we are engaged in the self study this year.
Accreditation is part of the process of self governance of American higher education, and NEASC is one of six regional nonprofit accrediting organizations in the country. The Federal government requires a college or university to be accredited for its students to receive certain Federal grants, including Pell grants to students, and to receive some institutional grants. Many state aid programs have a similar requirement. (General information from U.S. Department of Education on accreditation.)
The process of the self study is as important as the final written product. It is not just a practical requirement for our students and for maintaining our reputation, it is also a wonderful opportunity. We are aiming for very widespread participation in the college community (including alumni), lots of publicity, and a frank discussion of our achievements and remaining challenges. Our process began in the late spring of 2006 and will end in August 2007, so will take well over a year. There will be various public meetings and other opportunities for anyone to submit comments and suggestions, and we will make the final report readily available to the college community and the general public.
NEASC publishes Standards for Accreditation (www.neasc.org/cihe/stancihe.htm), under eleven headings: Mission and Purposes; Planning and Evaluation; Organization and Governance; Academic Program; Faculty; Students; Library and Other Information Resources; Physical and Technological Resources; Financial Resources: Public Disclosure; and Integrity. The self study, which typically culminates in a written report of about 110 pages (single-spaced), is one of three components of the review process; the other two components are an on-site evaluation by a team of outside experts and a review by NEASC itself. See details on the three components below.
In addition to covering the eleven standards published by NEASC, our self study will have three special emphases: diversity; our new residential life system; and creativity in student learning. In addition, we need to respond to an increasing expectation in NEASC and other quarters in higher education that colleges and universities will reflect at some length on the assessment of student learning—see more detail below.
President Schapiro has appointed a committee to oversee the self study and to write the report on it. The committee includes faculty, students, and staff. He is the chair of the committee, and Prof. Roger Bolton, Emeritus Professor of Economics and Research Associate in Environmental Studies, is the Coordinator of the effort.
topThe Three Steps in the Review
The self study is one of three components of the review (the following is based closely on NEASC’s description of accreditation; see also Important Dates.
Self Study
It must be comprehensive, rigorous, and candid. It usually lasts a year to 18 months and includes participation by the entire college community in identifying and evaluating its achievements and identifying possibilities and plans for improvement, using the published Standards as a guide. The self study cannot be limited to describing an institution’s achievements—it must identify areas that need improvement and ways in which it plans to improve. That of course is something our own commitment to a culture of reflection and inquiry demands, as well as a requirement for accreditation. We will complete the report by August 2007 and submit it to NEASC and also to a group of outside experts (see on-site evaluation, below). NEASC emphasizes that the process of the self study, including widespread participation and frank discussion, is as important as the final written report.
On-Site Evaluation
The self study serves as a basis for an evaluation by a team of peer evaluators—administrators and faculty from colleges and universities of the same quality and with a student body similar to ours (our visiting team will be chaired by a college or university president and will very probably include persons from outside as well as inside New England). In our case the visiting team will be on campus October 28-31, 2007, and it will be charged with assessing Williams in light of our self study and the standards for accreditation. It will submit a written report to NEASC, and to us, that addresses our success in fulfilling our purposes and also speaks to ways in which we can do better. We will be able to make a response to the visiting team report.
NEASC Review and Action:
NEASC’s Commission on Institutions of Higher Education comprises 18 persons elected by the member colleges and universities (15 are academics and three represent the general public). The Commission will review our self study, the visiting team report, and our response in the winter or spring of 2008; it will also consider third party comment (we will be required to publicize the fact that we are being evaluated and to indicate how members of the public may submit comments directly to NEASC). Then the Commission will decide whether we are continued in accreditation.
(NEASC will also review us in a less comprehensive way, and not involving a visiting team of outside experts, in 2012-2013, five years after the comprehensive review. As part of that process, we will review our progress since 2008, in a document much less comprehensive than a self study.)
Assessment of Student Learning
Conversations with NEASC staff members and with faculty and administrators engaged in self studies at other colleges and universities in New England reveal an increasing concern in American higher education with assessment of student learning. NEASC has in mind assessment on an institution-wide basis, going beyond routine grading of students in individual courses, and including assessment of learning of basic skills (NEASC materials on assessment). Guided by details of the Standards, we plan on including (quotes are from the Standards document):
- Description of what we do now (our “systematic means to understand how and what students are learning and to use the evidence obtained to improve the academic program”), with attention to the course, program, and institutional levels.
- Quantitative and qualitative methods now in use (e.g., various surveys and interviews).
- Level of institutional support for assessment, support by academic leadership, and systematic involvement of faculty.
- Role of student assessment of their own learning (e.g., SCS, interviews) and reports from alumni (e.g., in surveys and other feedback after graduation).
- Description of our assessment of student learning as part of our strategic plan earlier in this decade, planning for Williams in New York, and formal reviews of the tutorial program and Williams in Oxford.
- A summary of what part assessment has played in our regular external and internal reviews of departments and programs; we have underway a series of interviews with department and program chairs to learn more about that.
- Analyses of our requirements and of transcripts, both ones in the past (e.g., by the Committee on Educational Policy CEP) and ones we do this year.