University Is Seeking Middle States Accreditation

By Cindy Lazo | Published by December 21, 2021

Kean University is beginning the crucial process of re-accreditation by the Middle States Commision on Higher Education, taking its first steps with a self-study that was discussed in a  University Senate meeting in November. 

Accreditation is critical for recognition in higher education and determines whether credits transfer to other institutions are acceptable to graduate and professional schools. 

The Middle States is a voluntary, non-governmental, regional membership association serving higher education institutions in the middle states, including Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, according to its website.

Every 10 years, the university undergoes evaluation in order to be accredited by the Middle States and will be evaluated in 2022.

“When we are saying anything about any other accredited program that we have, the Middle States accreditation is the foundational accreditation and all of our other accreditation are contingent upon it,” Donald Marks, an associate professor, and director of the Clinical Training for the Doctor of Psychology program said in the Senate meeting. “So this is entirely critical for our continued success as a university.”

The process requires an institution to have an in-depth, comprehensive, and reflective self-study, and Marks added that the self-study will show compliance with MSCHE’s standards.

Middle States Standards for Accreditation are the following:

• Mission and Goals 
• Ethics and Integrity
• Design and Delivery of the Student LEarning Experience
• Support of the Student Experience
• Education Effectiveness Assessment
• Planning, Resources and Institutional Improvement
• Governance, Leadership and Administration

Frances Stavola-Daly, who is on the Middle State Executive Committee as faculty representative, would then speak to the Senate about the institutional priorities that are guiding the self-study.

“The first thing we did was create a self-study design,” Stavola-Daly said. “Part of that process included putting in that design what we saw or were the priorities that guide Kean University’s self-study.”

The Middle State Executive Committee identified that there were three priorities:

• Excellence and Equity
• Upstanders
• Evolution

Included in the self-study are working groups, with two co-chairs that are composed of faculty and staff overseeing not only the MSCHE’s standards but the  Requirements of Affiliation and Evidence Inventory as well.

“In addition to this structure, we also have even an advisory group that’s made up of people who have been working in the institution for administration for a long time in case there is a question someone needs to ask,” Stavola-Daly said. “As members of the Executive committee, we were also assigned to the different groups to offer assistance wherever we could.”

Throughout the month of November, virtual open forums have been held and live-streamed to receive feedback and suggestions from the Kean community. 

So far, the committee has received written feedback from full-time and adjunct faculty, students, and administrators from all three campuses, as well as Wenzhou Kean, on various issues including campus safety, general education, classroom technology, and opportunities for students with either special needs or disabilities.

A draft of the self-study can be accessed by any Kean community member on the university’s website, and the university is hoping to complete it before the preliminary visit on Jan. 24 by Queens College President Frank H. Wu who is running the visiting team.

“One of the things we want university members to be is knowledgeable about this study,” Stavola-Davy said. “In fact, it is one of the more important things.”

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