Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 11-18, 1999

Volume 28, Number 8

Yale completes self-study
as part of reaccreditation process

Over the past year and a half, over 80 members of the Yale community have taken a long, hard look at everything from the University's mission to its faculty, finances, facilities, student programs and more.

This self-examination is part of the University's 1999 reaccreditation evaluation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). Yale is a voluntary member of the association and is accredited every 10 years by its Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, one of eight regional accrediting organizations recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

As part of the NEASC evaluation, Yale and other member institutions must prepare a self-study demonstrating their fitness for reaccreditation. The schools can address all 11 of the commission's Standards of Accreditation or emphasize just a few.

In the self-study for its 1989 reaccreditation, for example, Yale chose to focus attention on its engineering departments and its interdisciplinary programs in the social studies.

This time, however, with Yale on the cusp of the new millennium, President Richard C. Levin and the Reaccreditation Steering Committee opted to use the self-study to evaluate the University -- and Yale College in particular -- across the broad spectrum of areas encompassed by the Standards of Accreditation.

"I determined early on that Yale's 1999 Reaccreditation should give the University an opportunity to take stock, to assess where we have come in the last decade, and to identify challenges for the future," says Levin. "I am happy to say that this was accomplished."

As the first step in the self-study, 11 Reaccreditation Subcommittees were established, one for each accreditation standard. These are: Mission and Purpose; Planning and Evaluation; Organization and Governance; Programs and Instruction; Faculty; Student Service; Library and Information Resources; Physical Resources; Financial Resources; Public Disclosure; and Integrity.

The members and chairs of these committees included faculty, trustees, administrators and students, thereby ensuring that a broad spectrum of the Yale community was represented. In all, 86 individuals served on the self-study committees. They, in turn, consulted with scores of others around the University in the course of their evaluations.

The broad range of issues examined by the committees included thorny topics that have been debated for years (such as teaching evaluation by undergraduates) as well as newer challenges posed by recent technological innovations and cultural changes (such as the management of the University's websites). The committees' reports note those areas where Yale is already strong, as well as issues in need of further study and action. Some reports make specific recommendations. One positive outcome of the self-study, for instance, was the creation of formal mission statements for Yale College and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

The completed self-study, which was endorsed by the Yale Corporation at its October meeting, has been posted on the World Wide Web at www.yale.edu/
accred, and is available from Closed Reserve in Cross Campus Library. The website includes links where campus community members can comment on the findings. Both the self-study and the community comments will be shared with the NEASC's Commission on Institutions of Higher Education.

"The 11 subcommittees did a superb job of reflecting on their assigned areas and composing thorough and thought-provoking reports," says the President, "We hope members of the Yale community will take the opportunity to view the entire self-study on the Web and to use the comment forms provided to make their own views known."

As the next step in the reaccreditation process, a team representing the NEASC's Commission on Institutions of Higher Education and chaired by Gerhard Casper, president of Stanford University, will visit Yale Sunday-Wednesday, Nov. 7-10. While on campus, the team will meet with members of the Yale community to examine the areas addressed in the self-study and to explore other issues its members consider relevant. Eventually, the team will produce a report commenting on the self-study and its visit to Yale, which will include its own set of recommendations.

"We are very much looking forward to November when President Casper and the Visiting Team will help us view the University with fresh eyes," says Levin. "The insights generated by our own community members as well as our colleagues from peer institutions will help us to chart a course that will ensure continued excellence as we enters our fourth century."

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

The Yale Endowment reaches $7.2 billion

'Yale Nursing Matters' magazine debuts at YSN

Yale's Year 2000 Project is preparing campus for the new millennium

As population grows to 6 billion, Yale expert warns of future scarcity

Alumnus actor says of his craft, 'You have to be a sponge'

Yale completes self-study as part of reaccreditation process

Award-winning journalist Roger Simon to visit as Poynter Fellow

Scholar will offer 'personal response to philosophy' in Terry Lectures

Scientists unraveling building blocks of memory

Exhibit features 'treasures' from the Lewis Walpole Library

Symposium pays tribute to noted Brazilian writer Haroldo de Campos

Sneak previews now part of the cinematic fare at Yale Film Society

Seminars examine genocides by Nazis and Cambodians

Yale Concert Band's first show of the season features film scores

Historian is next speaker in book review series

. . . In the News . . .