University Seeks Campus Feedback on Middle States Reaccreditation Process

Syracuse University’s Middle States Reaccreditation Steering Committee has launched an online feedback form to encourage students, faculty and staff to provide input into the self-study process now under way to secure reaccreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

The comprehensive self-study reaccreditation process—Middle States 2018: Peer Review, Reflection, Momentum—focuses on seven standards broadly relating to academic and co-curricular programs and functional operations. Teams comprising faculty, students and staff have spent the last several months researching and compiling findings relating to each of those seven standards required for reaccreditation. An eighth team has focused on a list of federally mandated compliance requirements.

The online feedback form gives all members of the campus community the chance to provide feedback relating to the standards or any other aspect of the self-study process during this information-gathering period.

The standards include:

• mission and goals
• ethics and integrity
• design and delivery of the student learning experience
• support of the student experience
• educational effectiveness
• planning, resources and institutional improvement
• governance, leadership and administration
• regulatory compliance

The multiphase, multiyear comprehensive review process is required every 10 years, along with a periodic review every five years, in order to retain Middle States accreditation. Syracuse University currently is at the 10-year self-study mark. Completion of the reaccreditation will also include a site visit by higher education professionals from peer institutions.

A draft reaccreditation report will be made available for campus feedback in April 2017 and will remain open through September 2017. In October 2017, the draft report will be submitted to the chair of the visiting team of external peer reviewers. That team of peer reviewers will visit the campus in spring of 2018 as a final step in the reaccreditation process.

Middle States accreditation is a critical designation that serves as a public indicator of educational quality and institutional accountability. It signifies to peer universities, current and potential students and other stakeholders that the University is operating acceptably and in accordance with its mission, vision and Middle States standards of accreditation. Only accredited institutions can access federal funding for financial aid and other purposes.

Persons interested in submitting comments, questions or other feedback can access the feedback form at middlestates.syr.edu/feedback.

Those interested in learning more about the Middle States reaccreditation process and the teams involved in the review can go to middlestates.syr.edu.