Dear UMBC Community, 

UMBC is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), one of six regional accrediting organizations recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate all aspects of operations of its member institutions. UMBC received its original accreditation in 1966, and its status has been reaffirmed every 10 years, most recently in 2017. The university's next evaluation is set for 2025 - 26, and our work to prepare for this intense evaluation begins in earnest now. 

Accreditation affirms to our students and families, as well as to governmental entities and peers in higher education, that UMBC is providing a quality education. Accreditation is part of the lifeblood of any university, required for students to receive many grants and loans, including all federal loans, and to be eligible for various professional licenses upon graduation. It also is a necessity for institutions to receive federal grants and other funds. 

While there are processes specific to accreditation, at its core, this work will connect fundamentally to strategic planning, as we consider all aspects of the university and the education we provide. As President Sheares Ashby noted in her beginning-of-semester message, that work will continue this semester, informed by last year's Bold Conversations and what we have heard from shared governance leaders about how best to engage the entire UMBC community in the effort. 

As for accreditation, in advance of evaluation, each MSCHE-member institution prepares a comprehensive self-study examining all aspects of the institution--including modality of instruction and all academic programs and services--in line with a set of established standards. A team of higher education professionals, drawn largely from other MSCHE universities, serves as peer evaluators and conducts a campus visit to confirm the self-study. The peer evaluator visit to UMBC will occur over a three-day period in fall 2025 or spring 2026.

Developing the self-study and preparing for the peer evaluator site visit is a major undertaking. Our self-study process will be led by three co-chairs and comprise seven working groups, one for each of MSCHE's accreditation standards. The process will be overseen by a Steering Committee, with additional support from a Core Support Team and an Evidence Inventory Committee. 

Today, I am pleased to share with you the co-chairs of this effort, as well as the working group co-leads and committee membership identified to date. 

Working Groups and Co-Leads 

Each working group will have two or three co-leads--one administrator and at least one faculty member. Working groups will be charged with conducting a thorough review and evaluation of UMBC's programs, practices, and policies relevant to their specific MSCHE standards, MSCHE's criteria for the standards, and the MSCHE-defined evidence expectations. 

Co-leads: Damian Doyle '99, M.S. '16, Deputy Chief Information Officer; Barbara Smith, Program Management Specialist, Academic Engagement and Transition Programs; and a faculty member to be confirmed

Co-leads: Tanyka Barber, Vice President, Institutional Equity and Chief Diversity Officer; Christine Mallinson, Director and Professor, Center for Social Science Scholarship; and Marcela Mellinger, Associate Professor, Social Work

Co-leads: Katharine Cole, Vice Provost and Dean, Undergraduate Academic Affairs; and Elaine MacDougall '99, Assistant Director, Writing Center, Academic Success Center

Co-leads: Jayshree Jani, Associate Professor, Social Work; and Renique Kersh, Vice President, Student Affairs

Co-leads: Elisabeth Arevalo-Guerrero, Senior Lecturer, Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication; and Peggy Re, Associate Provost, Academic Affairs

Co-leads: Animikh Biswas, Professor and Chair, Mathematics and Statistics; and Kathy Dettloff, Vice President, Administration and Finance

Co-leads: Anthony Johnson, Director, Center for Advanced Studies in Photonics Research and Professor, Physics and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering; and Laila Shishineh, Director, Academic Engagement and Transition Programs

Co-chairs and working group co-leads will be building out the working groups over the next few weeks, aiming for each to include seven to nine members. If you are interested in volunteering to serve on one of the working groups, please contact a co-lead for that particular group or one of the three co-chairs of the effort.

The Steering Committee will be responsible for overseeing the development of the required self-study document; ensuring that sufficient resources are available for the effort; and managing and participating in the site visit. Its membership will include the three co-chairs of the effort, the co-leads for each working group, and the lead for the Evidence Inventory Committee. 

The Core Support Team will help to organize, guide, and support the work of the Steering Committee and working groups. It will comprise the three co-chairs, a communications and logistics lead, a representative from the Division of Information Technology (Collier Jones '16, Campus Portal Architect), and liaisons between each working group and the Evidence Inventory Committee. 

The Evidence Inventory Committee will help identify and fulfill data and information needs of the working groups. Its work is already under way; key documents are being placed in the UMBC Knowledge Management Repository for use by working groups. 

The Evidence Inventory Committee membership includes: 

The most intense work for these groups will occur over the next 10 months. By mid-to-late fall 2024, each working group will submit a draft chapter to the Steering Committee, which will compile the chapters into a draft self-study report that will be shared with the campus community late in 2024 or early in 2025. We will seek the community's feedback on the draft and incorporate that feedback into a new draft version that will be shared with the MSCHE peer evaluation chair. The chair will make a preliminary visit to UMBC in late spring 2025 prior to the full evaluation team's visit. 

 

Steering Committee Kickoff Meeting

 

Campus Open Meeting with Terrance Peavy, Vice President, MSCHE: This open session will allow for questions about MSCHE accreditation and the process.

Self-Study Retreat: All members of the working groups, Evidence Inventory Committee, Core Support Team, and Steering Committee will meet to organize accreditation efforts.

This is an enormous undertaking, requiring the dedication and collaboration of many across the university. I cannot stress enough the importance of this work or my gratitude to all who will take part in it. I look forward to communicating with you as our work advances in the coming months. 

Sincerely,