Middle States Decennial Reaccreditation Process

Keuka College is fully accredited through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).  Like all accredited institutions, Keuka must go through a periodic reaccreditation process.  Keuka College is now engaging in its 10-year reaccreditation process with Middle States.  The reaccreditation process is being guided by the Steering Committee, but is completed by the entire institution   The center piece of this process is the creation of a self-study.

 

“The primary purpose of the Middle States Self-Study report is to advance institutional self-understanding and self-improvement.”

This website provides information for the Keuka College community on this important process. Important reaccreditation documents created by Keuka College and Middle States are found on the left-hand side. Updates and milestones are posted below.  Comments or corrections to this website should be directed to Dr. Tim Sellers.

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Middle States is HERE!

March 26, 2013

Day 1 of the visit has been completed.  Please note the UPDATED schedule below (v3/26/2013 9:00 am).  Please carefully check the room assignments for all of your scheduled meetings as well as the schedule as a whole.

We can expect more changes, so please stay tuned to this website!  Note that the schedule version date now has  TIME in addition to the DATE.  This will occur for all future schedules.

Schedule for Middle States Site Visit

March 26, 2013

UPDATED (Monday, 3/26/2013 9:00 am):  The final* schedule for the March 24 – 37, 2013 Middle States Site Visit is available (click the link below):

Middle States Site Visit Schedule 2013 vMarch 26 2013 9_00am

Please download this schedule to see who, when and where the site visit meetings will take place.  This is the updated version: March 26, 2013 9:00 am.  (Please delete and/or recycle all previous schedules.)  We have added a campus map that shows the room locations to the schedule.

The 3/26/2013 version has a number of meeting deletions for Tuesday.  The deletions do not have replacement meetings.  We still have the additional Faculty Forum session on Tuesday at noon in the Corning Room (Faculty Forum II).

* This is the final version of the schedule; however, the Middle States site team reserves the right to change (add, subtract, modify) this schedule based on their needs during the site visit.  Please understand that your time may be changed in one of these ways.

Community Day presentation is available

January 29, 2013.

Keuka College’s Spring 2013 Community Day was held on January 29, 2013.  Middle States Steering Committee Co-Chairs Ann Tuttle and Tim Sellers made a presentation about the recently completed self study and the upcoming site visit (March 24 – 27).  The presentation provided a number of ways that people could prepare for the site visit including reviewing documents and preparing for potential interviews.   This presentation (the PowerPoint file) is now available in the “Presentations” section of this website (see tab on the left).  You can also access this section by clicking here.

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Our Self Study is COMPLETE and has been submitted!

January 15, 2013.

  A major mile-stone has been reached: We have finalized and submitted our Middle States self study.   As scheduled, the self study was completed, printed (almost 200 pages of narrative and over 3,400 pages of appendices), and sent to our nine site visit team members and Middle States.  A digital copy of the self study was also created and sent to each team member.  Actually, only a few site team members requested the full print copies (yay trees!); a full digital copy was sent to all members.

To view this full document go to the “Self Study 2013 (Final)” tab in the upper left or click here.

This critical institutional document was created by the dedication and hard work of the whole Keuka community.  We started this project in September of 2010 — over two years ago.   Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your hard work!

While this major milestone is complete, our reaccreditation work still continues.  The Middle States site visit team will be visiting additional locations across New York state and Vietnam before finally doing their main campus visit March 24 – 27, 2013.  There remains a lot of work to be done, but let’s enjoy this momentous occasion for a little bit.

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New Self Study Draft Versions are available for Review

December 2012

There are now new Self Study draft versions available for review by all of in the institution.

To view the chapter drafts go to:

http://msa.keuka.edu/self-study-drafts/

(Note: You can access this page from the main site above.)  Starting here, you will find a link to the portal where the self study chapters are located.  (Note: you will need a valid Keuka ID and password to access the portal.)  Two print copies of the drafts are available at the Library Circulation Desk during regular library hours.

Like last time, please take some time to read and comment on the work so far.  Also, take a look at the website to see the timeline and other relevant  information; we’ve tried to make this site as informative as possible.  And please let us know if you have any issues with access or questions about the process.

Basic timeline: To be most useful, your comments and critiques should be made by January 2, 2013.  We will use your feedback to modify the drafts before making the FINAL submission in mid-January.

I urge you all to participate in the Middle States  reaccreditation process by providing your feedback on these chapter drafts.

Thank you for your support and help! Your help will ensure our success!

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Site Team Chair Dr. Mary Ann Gawelek to visit Keuka on November 12

August 10, 2012

Our Middle States site team chair, Dr. Mary Ann Gawelek, Provost and Dean of the Faculty at Seton Hill University, will make her preliminary site vist to Keuka College on November 12, 2012.  She will visit the campus for the day and talk with various groups and students.  The preliminary site visit is a chance for the site chair to better understand the college and help the college prepare for the site team visit in March 2013.  Among the scheduled meetings are Dr. Diaz-Herrera, the Steering Committee, students and some members of the Board of Trustees.  You can find out a little more about Dr. Gawelek here.

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Time to Review the Self-Study Chapters!

July 15, 2012

Dear Keuka Community,

This is an exciting time to be a Keukonian in many ways.  With our new president, new strategic planning initiative, and new institution-wide Datatel computer system (online registration, integrated finances, etc.), there is a lot going on.  Of course, our decennial Middle States reaccreditation is also a huge and vitally important initiative.  For those of you new to the reaccreditation process, Keuka began working on its self study in Fall 2010. A self study is an intensive review of a college’s educational programs and services, student learning, and achievement of its stated goals and mission, as measured against the standards that have been developed by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, our accrediting body. The focus of a self-study is institutional improvement through self-analysis.

After a long period of hard work and research by many, many people accross the institution, we are finally able to bring you the first drafts of our Middle States Self Study chapters, and we want your review and feedback!

As you know, over the last two years we have maintained a website to document our progress, celebrate milestones, and provide substantive information on this long reaccreditation process.  The website is:

msa.keuka.edu

Now we have linked our writing work to this website.  To view the available chapters and access an electronic feedback form, go to:

http://msa.keuka.edu/self-study-drafts/

(Note: You can access this page from the main site above.)  Starting here, you will find a link to the portal where the self study chapters are located.  You will also find a link to the electronic feedback form and directions on how to use it. (Note: you will need a valid Keuka ID and password to access the portal.)

Please take some time to read and comment on the work so far.  Also, take a look at the website to see the timeline and other relevant  information; we’ve tried to make this site as informative as possible.  And please let us know if you have any issues with access or questions about the process.

Basic timeline: To be most useful, your comments and critiques should be made by the end of August.  We will use your feedback to modify the drafts before making the final submission in October.

I urge you all to participate in the Middle States  reaccreditation process by providing your feedback on these chapter drafts.

Thank you for your support and help! Your help will ensure our success!

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Site Team Visit Dates Decided: March 24-27, 2013

April 5, 2012

The Middles States site team, lead by Dr. Mary Ann Gawelek (see below for more information), will be visiting the Keuka College campus March 24 through 27, 2013.  The team will arrive on Sunday, March 24 and stay through Wednesday afternoon (March 27).  Our MSCHE liaison, Dr. Ellie Fogarty and Dr. Gawelek are now working on putting together the other team members for the site visit.  Everyone is encouraged to learn more about this important visit by reading the Middle States handbook on team visits.

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Site Team Chair Selected: Welcome to Dr. Mary Ann Gawelek

February 23, 2012

We are pleased to inform the College that Dr. Mary Ann Gawelek, Provost and Dean of the Faculty at Seton Hill University, was selected to chair the Middles States site team visit in Spring 2013.  Dr. Diaz-Herrera and Dr. Gawelek are now working on setting the exact dates for the visit.  Next, Dr. Gawelek will be working to select members for the rest of the site team.  Dr. Gawelek also serves on the Seton Hill faculty as a professor of psychology You can find out a little more about Dr. Gawelek here.

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MS Steering Committee and Working Groups Reach Research Milestone!

December 16, 2011

The Middle States Steering Committee and Working Groups reached an important milestone on December 16, 2011 by finishing the initial research phase of the self study.  Each of the seven Working Groups have spent the last nine months researching and answering the self-study questions in the Self Study Design Document.  This research work was completed and submitted to the Steering Committee and Co-Chairs at the end of the Fall 2011 semester.  This research was completed by numerous individuals from across the institution and is the product of their tremendous hard work and dedication.  The next phase of the self-study process is using the research to write the initial draft of the self-study document.  It is anticipated that this document will be available to the entire Keuka College community by April 2012.  See the timeline for more information.

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Middle States VP, Dr. Ellie Fogarty, to visit Keuka in September

August 2011

Click for a schedule for Dr. Fogarty’s Visit

Dr. Ellie Fogarty, Vice President at Middle States Commission on Higher Education, will visit Keuka College’s Keuka Park campus on September 26 and 27 (Monday and Tuesday), 2011.  The visit is a normal follow up to the self-study design document submission (see below) and is not an evaluative visit from Middle States.  Dr. Fogarty will meet with the President, the self-study co-chairs, the Steering Committee, members of the Board of Trustees, the Administrative Team, and members of the campus community, including faculty, staff and students.  We are planning on having two open sessions where faculty, staff and students are encouraged to attend and ask questions about the self-study process and its importance.  One session will be on Monday afternoon; the other session will be on Tuesday morning.  Participation in these sessions is highly encouraged.   A detailed schedule is available here.

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Middles States Approves Self-Study Design

April 20, 2011

Great news!  Middle States Vice President Dr. Ellie Fogarty (our new Middle States liaison) reviewed and provided feedback on our self-study design document (submitted in March).  Her feedback was very positive, and she confirmed we are on the right road.  The design and questions in the self-study design should provide great insight into our institution.  Now comes the hard work of answering the questions that we posed.

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Self-Study Design submitted to Middle States

March 11, 2011

The Middle States Steering Committee recently completed and submitted the self-study design document to MSCHE.  This document details how we will complete the self-study report and features the research questions that were created with the help of the entire Keuka community.  The document can be found here or by clicking the “Self Study Design Document” link on the left-hand side.

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Presentation to the Board of Trustees on the Middle States Self Study and Assessment of Student Learning

February 26, 2011

Please see this file for a presentation to the Board of Trustees by Dr. Anne Weed, Vice President of Academic Affairs.

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Community Day Breakout Sessions on Middle States Process

February 1, 2011

In order to better inform the campus community and get feedback on the self-study process, there will be three breakout sessions covering the Middle States Reaccreditation process at the upcoming Community Day (February 1, 2011).

Breakout Session #1: Middle States 101. For those of you who seek a general understanding of  accreditation, Andy Beigel and Anne Weed will be providing an overview in this breakout session.

See the PowerPoint presentation from Breakout Session #1

Breakout Session #2:  The Importance of Campus-Wide Assessment to the Self-Study. Assessment plays a crucial role in answering the most basic question of accreditation: Is the institution fulfilling its mission and achieving its goals?  For those seeking to learn more about Standard 7 Institutional Assessment and Standard 14 Assessment of Student Learning, Tim Sellers and Janine Bower will be providing insight into understanding Middle States expectations.

See the PowerPoint presentation from Breakout Session #2

Breakout Session #3: Research Question Development, an interactive exercise. Reaccreditation should institution-wide process, and great analytical research questions, developed by the community members, are the basis for producing a meaningful self study.  Ann Tuttle and the Steering Committee will provide faculty with the opportunity to be part of the research question design process in this interactive session.

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Accreditation Matters

By President Joseph Burke

November 16, 2010

This semester, the College has officially embarked upon its journey toward reaccreditation with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). Accreditation is of vital importance to a college and its students. Accreditation provides students, their parents, and potential employers assurance of a quality education based on a rigorous academic program.  Accreditation serves as public affirmation that the college has met its obligations to provide quality educational programs and services in keeping with its institutional mission and goals.  College accreditation also allows students to participate in federal and state financial assistance programs.

For the next two years, Keuka College will engage in an intensive process of self-study with the goal of institutional improvement.  It will assess its academic programs, services, student learning, and achievement of its stated goals and mission, as measured against the fourteen standards that have been developed by the Middle States Commission for Higher Education, in its document Characteristics of Excellence in Higher Education.  The three chief activities of the self-study process are analysis, evaluation, and identifying strategies for continued improvement. Accordingly, the college community will focus on key institutional issues, review our educational programs and services so as to enhance teaching, student learning and achievement; and develop improvement action plans consistent with Keuka’s mission and vision.

Given the significance of accreditation to a college, the participation of its students, staff, and faculty in the self-study process is essential. To date, the College has

• Appointed Self Study Co-Chairs and a Steering Committee with broad representation from the different campus constituencies to oversee the process
• Begun a discussion between campus administration and the Steering Committee on identifying key institutional issues
• Provided key institutional representatives the opportunity to attend the Middle States Self-Study Institute (November) in addition to the Middle States workshops on assessing institutional effectiveness (August) and assessing student learning (October)

At this point, we seek broader participation in identifying areas of key institutional importance to address in the self-study.  Discussion of these areas will guide the Steering Committee in its development of the analytical research questions which will shape the Self-Study, due to MSCHE in Fall 2012.  To achieve broader campus participation, the Steering Committee will provide an electronic survey for the campus, asking for your responses to a number of open-ended questions.  Follow-up focus sessions will be scheduled, as necessary, before the end of the fall semester. Please complete the survey in a timely fashion, so that the entire campus can provide its perspective as we engage in this process of renewal and seek to shape collectively the future of Keuka College.