Self-Study Report

Visit the SMC Self-Study WEB Site http://academics.smcvt.edu/self_study

Saint Michael’s was last reaccredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) in 1990. In the Spring of the year 2000, Saint Michael’s will once again host a group of NEASC evaluators who will examine whether the College is meeting a set of 11 broad standards. In the fall, President vanderHeyden appointed a self-study committee to help the College prepare for our next reaccreditation. This newsletter is the second in a series which is designed to keep members of the community appraised of the progress and course of the reaccreditation process.

Early on, the self-study committee made a decision to work through the existing network of programs and committees to help us understand where, as a community, we have been, where we are today, and where we hope to be in the future. The Saint Michael’s College community will need to work in concert to identify our strengths, to discover future opportunities for appropriate growth, and to develop strategies to address weaknesses. As part of this process, we have asked each program and committee director to conduct their own self-appraisals. These appraisals are due back to the self-study committee by March 22, 1999.

Some of the information needed to validate whether Saint Michael’s is in compliance with a standard will not always be available from our existing committees or programs. Special groups are being organized to help assess specific standards. We will also be conducting a campus-wide survey in January to furnish additional information and to provide the entire community with the chance to assess Saint Michael’s from a perspective beyond the confines of an individual program or committee.

The Final SMC Self-Study Report will incorporate material from the self-appraisals, campus-wide survey, reports from special assessment subcommittees, and other sources. A community retreat is planned for September of 1999 to discuss preliminary findings and recommendations.

What are the specific responsibilities assigned to the Saint Michael’s College Self-Study Committee? Our charge is to:

1. Prepare a Final Report which addresses all 120 NEASC standards.

2. Collect and assimilate the insights from as many people as possible into the Final Report.

3. Keep the community fully informed about the process.

4. Provide the community with a chance to comment on early drafts of the Final Report.

5. Offer help for those conducting program or committee self-appraisals.

6. Appraise the soundness of the information that will shape the Final Report.

7. Organize a campus-based resource room for NEASC which will contain all the subsidiary documents that support the Final Report.

8. Recommend a plan to implement self-study initiatives.

NEASC expects that Saint Michael’s Self-Study Report will rely on an approach that emphasizes description (what are we doing), appraisal (how well are we doing), and projections (how can we do better). Two key themes have emerged in NEASC’s discussions and should be addressed in the self-appraisals.

The first is that whatever we do at Saint Michael’s must be mission driven. NEASC cares little about the nature of a college’s mission, assuming that it is appropriate for an educational institution, and more about how well it is implemented.

The second overriding concern of NEASC is institutional effectiveness, which they describe as the capacity of an institution to assess, verify, and enhance the fulfillment of its mission and purposes, giving primary focus to the attainment of its educational objectives. NEASC is asking us how we measure, for example, student outcomes, academic and otherwise, and how we use this information to improve the delivery of student services.

This section lays the groundwork for the appraisal and projection sections of your report. Try to be comprehensive, objective, and, at this point, non-judgmental. Committees (and programs) should discuss not only their operations and procedures but also their areas of concern.

* What is the purpose or function of your program or committee? You should not only describe the current status of your program or committee but also its historical context.

* What is the relationship between your department’s or committee’s goals and objectives and the mission of the College? If you have a mission statement of your own, please include that document either in your self-appraisal or as an attachment.

* Your program or committee should be described in the light of established College guidelines and documents (e.g., for academic units, your description should reflect the criteria embodied in the faculty regulations and departmental expectations).

Appraisal

Appraisal is always more challenging than description. Astute judgements along with a sense of detachment, confidence, and clarity of thought will be required to understand the way that our prejudices may shape our appraisals and to be able to identify, candidly, our weaknesses and strengths. The appraisal section may become the most important section of your study. Again, committees and programs should assess their operations as well as their designated areas of jurisdiction or oversight. Please try to be as thorough as possible.

* What are your program’s or committee’s strengths and weaknesses? This might include some reflection on the constraints that challenge you to achieve as much as you might like.

* What are the distinctive characteristics of your program or committee?

* How does your program or committee assess its performance? To what extent are you achieving your goals and objectives? The appraisal process should reflect established College guidelines and documents. Do you have objective evidence to support your conclusions? NEASC expects us to be able to verify, with "data," whatever we say.

* Where does your committee or program hope to be in the future? You should articulate a set of strategies to remedy the shortcomings that you identified in the appraisal section.

* Do you have plans to take advantage of future opportunities?

* What resources will you need to become more effective? Try to be realistic and specific.

SMC SELF-STUDY COMMITTEE