Brandeis is currently under review by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). Every 10 years, the university is required to undergo a mandatory review to maintain their accreditation. Accreditation is seen as “constructive feedback” for institutions on areas that can be improved in the future.
In order for a university to be reaccredited, they need to meet the standards set forth by the commission and comply with the policies. NECHE has nine different standards that it follows when determining the accreditation of an university. According to the Brandeis website, “The Standards for Accreditation establish criteria for institutional quality. Each of the Standards articulates a dimension of institutional quality.”
The first standard, Mission and Purposes, makes sure that the mission and purpose of the institution is appropriate with higher education and is implemented in a manner that is consistent with the Standards of the Commission. “The institution’s mission gives direction to its activities and provides a basis for the assessment and enhancement of the institution’s effectiveness,” according to their website.
The second standard, Planning and Evaluation, states that the institution is able to prioritize and find success in “strategic, academic, financial and other resource planning and the evaluation of its educational effectiveness.”
The third standard, Organization and Governance, makes sure the institution has a sustainable environment that is able to encourage teaching, learning, service, scholarship, research and creative activity, if applicable. It ensures that the institution is completely independent without outside assistance from other entities.
The fourth standard, The Academic Program, looks at the institution’s ability to “assure the academic quality and integrity of its academic programs and the credits and degrees awards,” according to their website. It also ensures that there is a systematic method to understand what all students are learning and what can be done to improve the execution of teaching. This encompasses undergraduate degree programs, graduate degree programs and general education requirements set forth by the institution.
The fifth standard, Students, makes sure “the institution sets and achieves realistic goals to enroll students who are broadly representative of the population the institution wishes to serve.” This includes both diversity and an environment that promotes intellectual and personal development of its students.
The sixth standard, “Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship,” states that the institution supports a well-qualified faculty and academic staff who produce quality instruction for its students. This, along with the eighth standard, “Educational Effectiveness,” ensures that the university obtains information from graduates about what students have gained from their learnings and what can be done to improve the university as a whole.
The seventh standard, “Institutional Resources,” states that “through the periodic evaluation, the institution demonstrates that its resources are sufficient to sustain the quality of the academic program and to support institutional improvement now and in the foreseeable future,” according to their website.
The final standard, “Integrity, Transparency, and Public Disclosure,” makes sure that the institution maintains high ethical standards while managing any affairs with members of their community, including prospective students. “In presenting the institution to students, prospective students and other members of the public, the institutional website provides information that is complete, accurate, timely, readily accessible, clear and sufficient for intended audiences to make informed decisions about the institution,” according to their website.
The university produces a self-study document that was produced by faculty and administrators over the past 18 months with feedback from the Brandeis community. This document is submitted to NECHE prior to the arrival of the Visiting Team.
A committee of professors and officials from other universities assessed Brandeis over the course of three days, meeting with faculty, staff and students to get an inside view on the university. A reporter from The Brandeis Hoot was in attendance at the Open Student Forum, which allowed students the opportunity to voice their personal opinions about the positive and negative aspects of campus.
However, due to the nature of the conversation, and the hopes of maintaining anonymity of the students that were present at the forum and gave feedback, the forum was held off the record. Topics of conversation at the forum included residential and academic life, the accessibility of resources on campus, policies instituted by the university that should be revised, the relationships between faculty, staff and students and the transparency of the administration.
The Visiting Team, and the NECHE, will be releasing a report in the near future about the reaccreditation.
