Middle States Review

On July 11, a representative from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), our accreditor, conducted an on-site visit to The New School to convey their concerns regarding adherence to their standards during and after the fall strike. You can view their request and specific areas of concern on our Statement of Accreditation Status. Their visit was prompted by media reporting and a community member’s complaint. 

During the commission's visit, the MSCHE representative impressed upon us the need to develop policies and processes to minimize confusion when normal campus learning and operations are not available. They highlighted the importance of approaching this work collaboratively with faculty input and with a focus on the success of our students. The provost and academic leadership will be working with faculty across the university to advance thinking in these areas.

On August 1, we submitted our formal institutional response to MSCHE's information request. MSCHE will deliberate our accreditation status at an upcoming fall meeting and provide us with the outcome in November.

Upholding our accreditation status is crucial to maintaining institutional credibility; retaining students, faculty, and staff; and preserving our eligibility to disburse federal grants and loans. Higher education is governed by hundreds of regulations, which span all aspects of the institution, including the curriculum, financial aid, and all other operations. Note that these include regulations from MSCHE, New York State, the Department of Education, and other bodies. It will take the buy-in and support of all university faculty and staff to keep us in good standing. 

The surveys are now closed. Working Groups are meeting to review and incorporate feedback into their final reports. Thank you to all who provided important feedback to this process.

In early 2022, the provost announced the beginning of our cyclical Self-Study for reaffirmation of accreditation with our regional accrediting body, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). Roughly 100 student, faculty, staff, and trustee participants stepped forward to research our adherence to the commission’s standards—as well as our own mission and goals. Participants were divided into groups based on the standards and have been working over the last year to write their reports on how we are currently meeting those standards. 

We are now asking for your feedback on the reports your peers, your colleagues, and community members drafted over the last year. This is a crucial part of this process, and any feedback you provide will be read and considered by the working group members. We ask that feedback be concise, specific, and constructive. Feedback that points to additional evidence of our adherence to the criteria, identifies discrepancies, or provides recommendations for improvement is especially welcome. 

Please note that these drafts are preliminary and will be finalized with your input. We are still working on identifying evidence and aggregating data to maintain privacy standards but plan to provide versions with evidence to the community in later drafts. 

You can find the reports hosted on our website, below. You will also find a survey, where you can respond to the reports. Note that you are free to provide as much feedback as you like, on one, several, or all reports.

The survey will remain open from March 8 through March 29. The feedback you submit is anonymous and will be provided to the relevant working groups, who will revise and finalize their reports over April. The Steering Committee will compile all reports, edit them, and provide a final report to the peer evaluation team in the fall. The process culminates in a visit by the peer evaluation team in spring 2024, with determination of our accreditation status to follow.

Standard I - Mission and Goals

• Report

Standard II - Ethics and Integrity

• Report

Standard III - Design and Delivery of the Student Learning Experience

• Report 

Standard IV - Support of the Student Experience

• Report

Standard V - Educational Effectiveness Assessment

• Report

Standard VI - Planning, Resources, and Institutional Improvement

• Report

Standard VII - Governance, Leadership, and Administration

• Report

On June 21, 2022, we met with our liaison from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, who gave a presentation on accreditation, the role of the commission, and the commission's expectations for our Self-Study. You can view the presentation here. The liaison also met with the President, Board of Trustees, Provost, and Self-Study Steering Committee to discuss our Self-Study Design. Having accepted the Self-Study Design, we are now permitted to moving forward with our Self-Study. Working Groups will convene in the fall to start gathering evidence of how we are meeting both Middle States’ and our own standards. 

You can read the Self-Study Design here. It is a comprehensive overview of how we will approach our Self-Study. Here are some of the main points: 

• We are guided by our overarching goal: to realize a collaborative Self-Study that prioritizes the Four Pillars of Fearless Progress and integrates with Strategic Planning. 
  The Self-Study process entails the creation of seven working groups to find evidence that we are meeting MSCHE’s seven standards (and our own goals). 
• The Self-Study Steering Committee, with representatives from all Working Groups, will help guide the Working Groups. The chairs of the Steering Committee are Jin Kim, Michael Schober, and Luciana Scrutchen. 
  We have 93 faculty, staff, students, and trustees participating in this effort. You can view all members here. 
• Working Groups will meet monthly during fall 2022 and spring 2023 to document the degree to which we are meeting the standards. This includes finding the evidence itself, considering the evidence in meetings, and writing a report.
• The Steering Committee will provide a number of resources, including templates for reports, draft meeting agendas, prospective meeting dates, preliminary evidence, and more to help guide the Working Groups. 
• The Working Groups will solicit community feedback on their draft reports in spring 2023. After submitting their final reports by the end of that semester, the Working Groups’ charge is finished.
• The Steering Committee will compile and edit the report over the summer and fall of 2023 and the final Self-Study will be sent to a Peer Evaluation Team, which will visit our campus in spring 2024.

It is now time for our 2021-2024 Self-Study, which is a comprehensive process of internal research and reporting that allows us to reflect on how we are meeting our priorities and to demonstrate compliance with MSCHE’s standards. After we submit a comprehensive Self-Study Report in 2023, a team of peer reviewers will visit The New School to conduct their own evaluation in spring 2024. 

The Provost’s Office is working on an operating framework and assembling working groups, including soliciting nominations of working group members. Each of the working groups will be tasked with reporting on one of the seven MSCHE standards in a dedicated chapter. Each standard comprises a series of criteria. The standards—and some examples of their criteria—are as follows:  

Standard I - Mission and Goals
I.2: institutional goals that are realistic, appropriate to higher education, and consistent with mission

Standard II - Ethics and Integrity
I.2: a climate that fosters respect among students, faculty, staff, and administration from a range of diverse backgrounds, ideas, and perspectives
I.5: fair and impartial practices in the hiring, evaluation, promotion, discipline, and separation of employees

Standard III - Design and Delivery of the Student Learning Experience
III.3: sufficient learning opportunities and resources to support both the institution’s programs of study and students’ academic progress

Standard IV - Support of the Student Experience
IV.6: periodic assessment of the effectiveness of programs supporting the student experience

Standard V - Educational Effectiveness Assessment
V.2: organized and systematic assessments, conducted by faculty and/or appropriate professionals, evaluating the extent of student achievement of institutional and degree/program goals 

Standard VI - Planning, Resources, and Institutional Improvement
VI.3: a financial planning and budgeting process that is aligned with the institution’s mission and goals, evidence-based, and clearly linked to the institution’s and units’ strategic plans/objectives

Standard VII - Governance, Leadership, and Administration
VII.1: a clearly articulated and transparent governance structure that outlines roles, responsibilities, and accountability for decision making by each constituency, including governing body, administration, faculty, staff and students

You can learn more about the standards and their linked criteria here. The working groups will investigate the degree to which we are meeting each of these criteria and provide evidence and documentation to support its findings. They are also tasked with providing recommendations for the university to strengthen its institutional priorities in relation to the standards. The working groups will be completing their chapters of the self-study over the 2022-2023 academic year. 

The self-study is meant to be an inclusive, campus-wide process for reflection that connects with the many broader strategic planning efforts underway at the university. To meet this goal, broad participation and comprehensive faculty and administrative representation in the working groups, including a range of viewpoints from across the university’s communities, is essential. If you are a faculty or staff member interested in being considered for participation, please complete this form. 

There will be an opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to learn more about the self-study process during a virtual visit by our MSCHE liaison at the end of the spring 2022 semester.  

What is the Middle States Commission on Higher Education?
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is the accrediting arm of Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, a private, voluntary membership association that defines, maintains, and promotes educational excellence in colleges and universities with diverse missions, student populations, and resources. In accrediting member institutions, the commission examines each institution as a whole rather than specific programs within the institution. The Middle States Association accredits degree-granting colleges and universities in the region that includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, and also Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

What is accreditation?
Accreditation is a process of peer review that the higher education community has used for self-regulation since the early 20th century. This voluntary process is intended to strengthen and maintain the quality and integrity of higher education, making it worthy of public confidence. Institutions choose to apply for accredited status and, once accredited, agree to abide by the standards of their accrediting organization and to regulate themselves by taking responsibility for their own improvement.

Why is it important to have accreditation?
Accreditation is a means of assuring the public that an institution is providing quality education consistent with its own mission and the principles established by the accrediting body. It demonstrates to other institutions, institutional leadership, faculty, and students a commitment to excellence. Accreditation is also a requirement for any institution seeking federal financial aid for its students.

What are the criteria for Middle States accreditation?
The Middle States Commission has identified seven key characteristics of excellence. These characteristics address all aspects of an institution's effectiveness, including mission, infrastructure, faculty, student body, resources, leadership, and educational offerings.

What are Middle States’ standards?
You can learn more about the standards and their criteria here.

How does the reaccreditation review occur?
This comprehensive review process is based on a self-study produced by the institution that addresses the characteristics of excellence outlined by MSCHE. Through the self-study, an institution evaluates how well it is meeting both its own goals and the commission's standards. Another important part of the review process is a visit by a team of external evaluators. The team reviews the self-study and other background materials and visits the institution to gather additional information and perspectives from students, faculty, administrative staff, and community members. The team then produces a report for the Middle States Commission. After reviewing all the documentation from the review process, the commission makes a decision about accrediting the institution.

How long does the reaccreditation review process take?
The current self-study cycle runs from 2022 to 2024, culminating in an on-campus visit in April 2024. MSCHE should provide a final deliberation on our reaccreditation by November 2024.

Who is involved in the self-study?
Broad input is needed in order to create a self-study that accurately and comprehensively reflects our institution. The New School therefore involves a cross-section of the campus community in creating the self-study report. The process is led by a steering committee appointed by the president and the provost, including representatives from the faculty, administration, trustees, and student body.

How did The New School do in its previous reaccreditation reviews?
In 2003, The New School completed the Middle States reaccreditation review and was reaccredited without reservation. In 2008, the university produced a periodic review report that was positively reviewed by the Middle States Commission and was among a handful of periodic review reports that received a special commendation that year. In 2014, The New School again completed the Middle States reaccreditation review and was reaccredited. You can read more about our last cycle in the section below.

Can I submit a comment to the Middle States Commission directly?
Yes, the commission makes available the opportunity to submit third-party comments regarding the institution’s compliance with standards for accreditation, requirements of affiliation, policies and procedures, and applicable federal regulatory requirements. Comments for consideration as part of this Self-Study should be submitted here by December 1, 2023.

I have other questions or comments. How can I share them?
Send your comments and questions by email to Prisca Wood, Assistant Provost of Compliance and Accreditation. We invite input from the New School community and will do our best to answer your questions. This FAQ will be updated and expanded periodically.

The New School's accreditation was reaffirmed by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) in 2014. The accreditation evaluation is a rigorous process that universities in the region must undergo every eight years.

For The New School, the process provided an ideal opportunity for us to take a comprehensive look at our student experience, faculty, academic programs, infrastructure, and resources. Our Self-Study Report presents a vivid narrative of our university since its last accreditation evaluation in 2003. The self-study processes identified The New School’s strengths and areas for improvement, all framed by the vision and priorities for our future that are set forth in our strategic plan.

Following the submission of the Self-Study Report, a team of peer evaluators appointed by MSCHE visited the campus. The Site Team's positive report underscores The New School's strength, values, and direction. It acknowledges the challenges we have met and the considerable progress we have made in the past decade, especially in recent years. The Site Team report also offers valuable suggestions and recommendations that reinforce our priorities and the important work we must do, particularly with regard to assessment.

This intensive process was extremely valuable for the university and we are grateful to all the members of our community who participated in it.

Self-Study Design
Defining the design or organizational structure of the self-study is an important early step in the Middle States review process. Middle States does not prescribe a specific model, allowing each university or college to devise a self-study that best reflects the institution and its strategic priorities.

For The New School's self-study, we organized the 14 standards set by Middle States into six areas, each of which will be discussed in a chapter of the report: vision and leadership, infrastructure, faculty, students, programs and curriculum, and assessment. Overarching themes central to this university's mission—academic quality, distributed education, and innovation—were explored in all chapters.

2014 Self-Study Report
A key part of the decennial re-accreditation process is The New School's 2014 Self-Study Report.

To place the report into the broader context of the accreditation process, please refer to the other information provided on this website, especially The New School's Institutional Self-Study Design. The self-study design provides the context in which and process through which the self-study report was developed and was approved by the Middle States Commission in the early stages of this process. The accreditation process is laid out in the timeline found here.

The final self-study was submitted to the Middle States Commission in early February 2014. An external evaluation team then reviewed the self-study and visited our campus in April 2014.

Team Members

• Deborah Freund, Team Chair—President, Claremont Graduate University
• Kevin Conlon—Provost, Columbus College of Art
• Erin Ebersole—Director of Institutional Research, Planning and Effectiveness, Immaculata University
• Heather Kelly—Director, Office of Institutional Research, University of Delaware
• Bonnie Kirkpatrick—Senior Director of Faculty Development and Support, Academic Director of Online Learning, Wilmington University
• Henry Mauermeyer—Senior Vice President and Treasurer, New Jersey Institute of Technology
• Janice Strickland—Coordinator for Student Conduct, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
• Ralph Wahlstrom—Chair and Professor of English, State University of New York, College at Buffalo

To complete the decennial re-accreditation process, after the team completed their visit, they made both oral and written reports to the university and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The university had the opportunity to respond to the written team report, after which MSCHE concluded this accreditation cycle with a letter reaffirming The New School's accreditation.