GCU Self-Study for MSCHE (2018)
Georgian Court University (GCU) is accredited by the regional accreditation agency, the Middle States Commission for Higher Education (MSCHE). As such, it periodically must apply for reaffirmation of accreditation. For GCU, this is occurring during the 2018-2019 academic year. In preparation for this reaffirmation, the university has been engaged in an in-depth self-study, following MSCHE’s Requirements of Affiliation and the Standards of Accreditation. To direct the university in this self-study, GCU President Joseph Marbach, Ph.D., appointed a GCU Steering Committee for the MSCHE self-study in Fall 2016. This committee has worked diligently to provide evidence of compliance with the MSCHE Standards, to review the areas of compliance that need strengthening, and to make recommendations for further improvement.
There was a planned synergy between the development of the Strategic Compass and the work of the GCU MSCHE Steering Committee, with concurrent alignment of the compass points and the MSCHE Standards of Accreditation. The data collected for the documentation roadmap informs the Strategic Compass development, as well as verifies GCU’s compliance with the Standards of Accreditation. As the Strategic Compass is aligned with the MSCHE Standards, the self-study narrative informs the Strategic Compass.
Committee
GCU identified key personnel for its Steering Committee, with co-chairs for each Standard of Accreditation. This committee has a two-fold charge. The first charge is to provide the documentation necessary to show compliance with the MSCHE Requirements of Affiliation and Standards of Accreditation, and, from this data, develop the narrative of the university’s self-study. The second charge for the Steering Committee was to identify additional research areas that align with both the Strategic Compass implementation and GCU’s unique story of compliance with the MSCHE Standards. The Steering Committee meets regularly to share results and to articulate areas in need of strengthening to continue meeting the Standards of Accreditation at the highest level. The meeting minutes, related documents, documentation roadmap, and self-study draft documents are housed in a secure SharePoint site on the university’s portal. The university community was offered several opportunities to be informed of the self-study process through newsletters, review of the drafts of the self-study, and most importantly, through widespread inclusion on the subcommittees of the Steering Committee.
GCU looks forward to the team visit from MSCHE, beginning with a preliminary visit from the team chair, Dr. Christopher Domes, on October 17, 2018. The full site visit will occur at GCU March 24-27, 2019. Meanwhile, GCU is moving ahead with its own self-recommendations from the self-study and the integration of the same with the Strategic Compass.
GCU Steering Committee for MSCHE Self-Study
Timothy Briles, Co-Chair
Sr. Janet Thiel, Co-Chair
Evelyn Quinn, Standard I (2016-2018)
Sr. Barbara Williams, Standard I
Paul DaPonte, Standard I (appointed 2018)
Gail Towns, Standard II
Jo Ann Cummings, Standard II
William Behre, Standard III (2016-2018)
Nancy Sardone, Standard III
Christopher Campisano, Standard III (appointed Fall 2018)
Susan Field, Standard IV
Colleen Diveny, Standard IV
Pari Murthy, Standard V (2016-2017)
Marny Requa, Standard V (appointed Fall 2017)
Michael Gross, Standard V
John Sommer, Standard VI (2016-2018)
Cathleen McQuillen, Standard VI
Janice Warner, Standard VII
Russell McDonald, Standard VII
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