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At its November 16, 2017 meeting the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) began implementing both the Commission’s new standards and its new accreditation process in its response to the accreditation reports it had reviewed. All of the Periodic Report and Self-Study Report outcomes provided by the Commission were expressed in terms of seven accreditation standards.
The second-most cited standard was Standard V: Educational Effectiveness Assessment. Requests for follow-up concerning Standard V were allocated as follows:
- Specific data to be provided in conjunction with the Annual Institutional Update (AIU) Report: 73%
- Focused Report (with or without a small team visit to follow): 13%
- Warning/Monitoring Report: 13%
The two biggest areas within Standard V that drew MSCHE citations were:
- Organized, systematic, and sustainable assessment process for student learning goals (Criterion 2): 53% of Standard V follow-up requests
- Use of assessment results to improve teaching and learning/educational effectiveness/student achievement (Criterion 3): 33% of Standard V follow-up requests
Additional citations concerned the need for clearly stated educational goals at the institution and degree/program levels (Criterion 1); the interrelationship of program level and general education goals (Criterion 1); assessment of general education (Criterion 2); and, constituent participation in planning and improvement from the use of assessment results (Criterion 3).
Finally, Middle States will be hosting its annual conference later this week during December 6-8 at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown Hotel.
