Monday, Feb. 18, Elizabethtown College came one step closer to reaccreditation. After nearly two years of preparation, the campus’s Steering Committee and work groups submitted a Self-Study narrative, supporting documents and a compliance report to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).

The MSCHE, established in 1919 and headquartered in Philadelphia, is a unit of the Mid-Atlantic Region Commission on Higher Education.

According to its website, Middle States is a “voluntary, non-governmental, membership association that defines, maintains, and promotes educational excellence across institutions with diverse missions, student populations, and resources.”

“Basically, Middle States determines whether schools are qualified to grant degrees,” Director of the High Library and Co-Chair of Etown’s Middle States Steering Committee Sarah Penniman stated in an email interview.

The MSCHE is one of several geographically-based accreditation institutions recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education. As its name suggests, the MSCHE accredits institutions of higher education in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. It also accredits institutions in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Accreditation signifies dedication to students, the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge, the study and clarification of values and the advancement of society.

The MSCHE seeks to protect students from diploma mills, or institutes “more interested in taking your money than providing you with a quality education,” as is stated on the U.S. Department of Education website.

The MSCHE evaluates institutions with respect to seven standards, the first being its “Mission and Goals” standard. The other standards that the MSCHE evaluates include “Ethics and Integrity,” “Design and Delivery of the Student Learning Experience,” “Support of the Student Experience,” “Educational Effectiveness Assessment,” “Planning, Resources and Institutional Improvement” and “Governance Leadership and Administration.”

Accreditation must be renewed every 10 years, and the arduous application requires approximately two years to complete.

The application process entails kickoff and recruitment, forming a Steering Committee and working groups, designing a Self-Study, completing the Self-Study and visitation by an MSCHE Self-Study team.

Accredited institutions also submit an interim report after five years.
The Self-Study is perhaps the most important component of the application. It enables the College to explore opportunities that are aligned with its new strategic plan, identify any gaps in the College’s capacity to meet its strategic goals and provide recommendations to fill such gaps.

The 258-page Self-Study is publicly accessible through the College’s website.
Unknown to many students, the broad-reaching Self-Study involved an array of faculty members, such as associate professor of economics Dr. Dmitriy Krichevskiy and professor of communications Dr. Kirsten Johnson. A Student Senate focus group also reviewed the Self-Study and voiced student feedback and concerns.

Dean for Curriculum and Honors and professor of history Dr. Brian Newsome served as one of the Steering Committee co-chairs.

He noted the importance of collaboration in completing the Self-Study.

“It was a good first-time experience, and a real team effort,” Newsome said.
Penniman similarly noted the importance of collaboration.

“It’s been a pleasure to collaborate with lots of faculty and staff from all areas of the College, as everyone has been so helpful. Dr. Newsome, Dr. Finley-Bowman and Dr. Rosario, our Compliance Coordinator, have been wonderful leaders and hard-working colleagues throughout the multi-year process,” Penniman stated in an email interview.

“We believe that our Self-Study is comprehensive and strong, as it serves as a reflection of the work of the College’s faculty and staff for the last decade,” Penniman continued. “We paid particular attention to the documentation of our institutional assessment efforts, and we look forward to the feedback that we’ll soon receive from Middle States.”

Newsome voiced similar confidence in the strength of the College’s application across all seven MSCHE standards. He remarked that the “Assessment” section had particularly improved.

Etown’s bid for reaccreditation will continue into the summer, when the MSCHE votes on the College’s accreditation status.

Before then, an evaluation team led by President John Hurley of Canisius College will visit campus from March 31 to April 3. The forthcoming visit schedule will be announced through the College’s Accreditation Website.
For more detailed information regarding the MSCHE and its accreditation standards, visit www.msche.org.