By Nicholas Hunt-Bull
The first article about the Middle States self-study in the Apollos generated exactly the level of excitement that the team working on this expected—exactly zero comments. Nonetheless, we continue on in blessed obscurity.
One question we did not address last time was “Can one fail the re-accreditation process?” The answer is obviously “Yes.” The regional accreditors do refuse colleges’ requests for re-accreditation, so success is not guaranteed. As with any high-stakes process, there are lots of warning signs that a sensible college looks out for when this is likely to happen. Also, when we do get re-accredited in 2018, it is almost inevitable that the visiting team will find something that they think could/should be improved at PSC—this would be true of almost any school, and so is likely to be true for us.
That is what is good about the painful process of self-study, peer-review and visit, and then formal assessment. It gives the colleges being reviewed time to look at what we do well and not-so-well, invites outside experts in to give us advice on what to improve, and sets some goals for improvement over the next few years.
So it is very unlikely that we will “fail”—that is, not be reaccredited. It is almost as unlikely that we would get an “A+”—that is, be told that the MSCHE does not recommend any specific changes or improvements. Rather, we can expect to get through this, but to be given a serious evaluation and some advice on how to get better. Sounds kind of like a job interview…or a really good final exam.
Nicholas Hunt-Bull is Provost of Paul Smith’s College. A philosopher by training, he joined PSC after an extensive career in teaching and administration, most recently in New Hampshire. Born in Canada, he attended in college in Canada, Scotland and the United States. He is currently teaching a philosophy class, Monday and Wednesday evenings on campus. His proudest recent achievement is getting carded at Nona Fina last week.