UMUC

Middle States Self-Study

President Susan Aldridge

A Message from President Susan Aldridge:

Welcome to the University of Maryland University College’s Middle States Accreditation Web site. On this site you will find helpful information about the accreditation process, about those who played a crucial role in preparing UMUC for its 2006 Middle States re-accreditation visit, about UMUC’s mission and strategic plan, and about the evaluation team that will be visiting the university in March and April.

Let me say a few words about accreditation. Accreditation is an important means of self-regulation and peer review intended to strengthen and sustain the quality and integrity of higher education. It serves as a seal of approval for the institution and an assurance to the student that the institution will live up to its promise to deliver a quality educational experience based upon a common set of standards. Accreditation is a prerequisite for the distribution of federal financial aid, and it facilitates transfer of student credit among institutions. Since accreditation must be renewed every ten years, and there are five-year periodic reviews in between, the process assures that institutions remain attentive to their mission and goals and accept responsibility for their own continuous improvement.

This site also includes a link to UMUC’s Self-Study report. The report is the result of an intense self-examination process that has taken place over the past two years. Eight subcommittees, under the oversight of a steering and coordinating committee and through the leadership of vice provosts Larry Leak and Kim Kelley, have looked at every aspect of UMUC’s day-to-day activities to see how well the university is living up to its avowed mission and carrying out its strategic plan.

The subcommittees looked at academic programs, distance education, planning and resource allocation, administrative functions, student support services, leadership and governance, faculty, assessment, and more, in each case benchmarking UMUC’s operations against the criteria of excellence set forth by the Middle States Commission.

The report is impressive – thoughtfully prepared and beautifully written – and a tribute to those who worked long and hard to pull together the requisite information. Reading it will give you a picture of the innovative and forward-looking ways that UMUC has strived to achieve its mission and serve its students. The report also provides a view of the challenges UMUC faces because of its significant growth, marginal state funding, the particular needs of its nontraditional student body, and the competitive environment in which it operates.

During UMUC’s decennial re-accreditation visit, ten highly respected evaluators, selected by the Middle States Commission of Higher Education in consultation with UMUC and headed by Dr. Joseph Moore, president of Empire State College of the State University of New York, will visit the university. They will meet with groups of faculty, staff, and students; with UMUC’s administrators; and with the Board of Visitors and other external groups to talk about the Self-Study report and where the university is heading. The re-accreditation review will include visits to sites in Asia (March 3-14) and Europe (March 5-11) before the whole team comes to Adelphi from April 2-5. We expect the visits to go well and to move through the accreditation process with flying colors.

In closing, I would like to encourage each of you to become familiar with the self study report. I would also like to thank you for your contributions to this remarkable institution with special thanks to those who contributed time and energy to the self-study process. It is you, the faculty, staff, and students of this university, that make UMUC a recognized leader and innovator in the delivery of high quality education to nontraditional students worldwide.