December 2004

Middle States Accreditation Process Offers UMUC a Priceless Opportunity for Self-Examination

By Chip Cassano

In March 2006, the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools will send a group of experts to UMUC to conduct what amounts to an academic audit. Every facet of the University—people, programs, and policies—will be evaluated, both stateside and abroad.

It would be hard to overemphasize the importance of the visit. When it comes to regional accreditation in Maryland, Middle States—a nonprofit organization established in 1887—is the only game in town. And accreditation equates to academic legitimacy.

Kim Kelley and Lawrence Leak

“Accreditation is a standard that we voluntarily seek to meet,” said Lawrence Leak, vice provost for academic affairs; Leak is co-chair, along with Kim Kelley, vice provost, Information and Library Services, of the committee that is coordinating the effort to prepare for the accreditation review. “Earning accreditation says to current and prospective students that we are an institution of quality. It also means that they can use federal financial aid to pay for classes they take here—regional accreditation is one of the qualities that the government looks for before lending money—and that, once they are here, they can transfer credit earned here to other institutions.”

UMUC has been through the process before, of course, and it’s no surprise that efforts are already well underway to prepare for the visit. Middle States lists 14 standards upon which an institution is judged, and UMUC has established eight subcommittees, each charged with focusing on specific standards. Ultimately, the process will yield a detailed self-study report that the Middle States team will evaluate during their visit.

“We selected subcommittee chairs in the spring of 2004 and by the end of June, we pretty much had the internal team together,” said Leak. “They’ll be working closely between now and 2006. We see this as a marathon, not a sprint.”

While he may view it as a marathon, Leak most assuredly does not view the process as an obstacle. Quite to the contrary, he sees it as a priceless opportunity for the University to learn and grow as an institution, and Kelley concurs.

“The self-study process is really an opportunity for the University to look at itself very candidly and openly with a broad set of stakeholders—the group that is included in our subcommittee structures—and take the pulse, if you will, of the University,” said Leak. “We can gain a sense of where we are now and where we want to be, and that’s a very healthy organizational activity to be involved in.”

“If we were only to focus on earning the pass, this really wouldn’t be much more than a lot of busy work and a big waste of people’s time,” said Kelley. “That approach won’t make this process all that it can be—an opportunity for the institution to illuminate its mission and focus on how it will achieve that mission. And I think that people become more committed to an institution and have a greater sense of ownership, of being part of something important, when they go through a process like this.

“I think our primary challenge is ensuring that everyone knows this process is occurring and what it means, both stateside and abroad,” Kelley continues. “At the end, we want to hear people say, ‘OK, I was skeptical, but I really gained something from this,’ or ‘Well, I’ll admit it was a heck of a lot of work, but I really got something valuable from it.’ That’s where we want to be.”

How can you help? The first step, said Kelley and Leak, is to visit UMUC’s Middle States Web page. There, employees can review the accreditation process and UMUC’s strategies leading up to the review, read and respond to various draft documents as the process goes forward, access lists of subcommittee chairs and members, and leave anonymous feedback.