Overview
Holy Cross is accredited by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (CIHE) of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). This accreditation is reviewed for continuation every ten years; our next review is scheduled for Spring 2010. The review process will include the preparation of a comprehensive self-study and a subsequent visit to campus, over a three-day period, of a team of reviewers in late March 2010. Our self-study and the report of the visiting team will form the basis for the final NEASC decision on renewal of our accreditation.
Accreditation is an important process of self-governance for institutions of higher education. The periodic review and assessment that accreditation entails not only provides an assurance of quality to the public, but also aids institutions in their own planning. In addition, only accredited schools are eligible for certain Federal grants, including Pell grants for students.
NEASC, founded in 1885, is one of six regional accrediting associations in the United States. Currently NEASC accredits over 2,000 educational institutions, from pre-K to doctoral level, including 240 colleges and universities. The NEASC mission calls for the development and maintenance of high standards for all levels of education. Members of the NEASC board and staff, as well as members of visiting accrediting teams are drawn primarily from faculty and staff of member institutions.
The NEASC standards are organized into eleven broad categories:
- 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
- Integrity
The College’s institutional self-study must address these standards, describing and appraising our performance in each area, and making projections for the future. In doing so, we will collect a wide variety of supporting documents and data. The standards and reporting requirements have evolved over time, and were last revised in 2006 with an increased emphasis on assessment. The articulation and measurement of student learning outcomes is a large part of this new emphasis, but systematic and periodic review is now expected to be an integral part of planning in all areas covered by the standards. Progress of the various assessment efforts now under way on campus, as well as the work of recently established office of Assessment and Research, are therefore vital in addressing the NEASC standards.
In addition to responding comprehensively to the NEASC standards, we will also highlight our progress in specific areas, as requested by NEASC in response to a five-year interim report submitted by the College in 2005. These are: (1) the successful implementation of our strategic plan; (2) the implementation and use of formal student outcomes assessment; (3) the College’s effective efforts towards achieving its own goals for racial and ethnic diversity in the student body.
In September, 2008, a Steering Committee of faculty and administrators was appointed by Rev. Michael McFarland, S.J., President of the College, to oversee the preparation of the self-study. Members of the Steering Committee were chosen for their expertise in each of the eleven standards; roughly speaking, each member of the Committee has primary responsibility for one standard. For each standard, there is also a subcommittee (composed of faculty, administrators, and students, most of whom are not on the Steering Committee), chaired by the member of the Steering Committee responsible for that standard; that subcommittee will prepare an outline and collect supporting evidence.
During the 2008-2009 academic year, the Committee will meet once a month to review the subcommittee’s outlines, and over the summer a first draft of the text of the report will be prepared. We plan to circulate a draft to the College community for comment in August 2009. Our self-study should be completed by mid-January 2010, and submitted to NEASC shortly thereafter.
Writing the self-study is clearly a large undertaking that will require the time and effort of many people. We see it as a unique opportunity to review the College's progress over the last ten years, to make an honest appraisal of our strengths and weaknesses, and to lay a solid foundation for future planning efforts.