December 2 Town Hall To Discuss BC's Self-Study

Middle States Accreditation Process at Brooklyn College

As do all serious higher education institutions, Brooklyn College, has to renew its accreditation every ten years. The entire process takes about three years and started on campus approximately twenty-four months ago with the appointment of a steering committee comprised of twenty-eight students, staff, and faculty members, co-chaired by Professors Lynda Day and Bonnie Gustav.
    To help the Middle States Group in that process, the College has completed a working draft of a self-study that we strongly encourage you to read.* Working groups have researched and prepared different parts of the self-study, a draft of which is posted online. The groups looked at all aspects of the College, including the budget, academic resources, faculty credentials, and governance.
    As part of the final phase of the reaccreditation process, the College hosted its first town hall meeting in the Student Center last week, where the college community met and heard R. Barbara Gitenstein, president of The College of New Jersey and head of the eight-member visiting team from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. A non-profit, non-governmental organization that accredits colleges and universities in the mid-Atlantic region, this Commission will conduct the reaccrediation process that will help guide the College’s future.
    The commission will make a final decision between June and November 2009. At that time, they either will renew the College’s accreditation, a very likely development, or issue a warning about areas the College needs to address.
    
*To view a copy of the BC Self-Study click here

Without accreditation, students would not be eligible for federal financial aid, though it is rare for a college to lose the standing as accreditors often provide time to remedy any problems.
    In preparation for the meeting, please consider some of the following questions:

• How do we interpret the mission of Brooklyn College in our daily work lives?
• What do we as individuals do to make Brooklyn College an effective institution?
• What are the top issues that faculty and staff see on the College's horizon over the next few years?
• What can we as faculty and staff do to better address the issues our students have identified?

    Like the student session, the Town Hall Meeting for Faculty and Staff will be videotaped and will be used to inform the final version of the self-study. The draft self-study and executive summary are available on the Middle States page of the Brooklyn College web site.
    Members of the Brooklyn College community who would like to comment on the self study or arrange to meet with the evaluation team when they visit from March 29 to April 1 can do so by sending an e-mail to provostoffice@brooklyn.cuny.edu.
    The College will host one more town hall for faculty and staff members:

Tuesday, December 2, 2008
12:15-2:15 p.m. Amersfort Lounge
Student Center

RSVP via e-mail at studentaffairs@brooklyn.cuny.edu