Middle States Reaffirmation of Accreditation

Members of the review team (see below for names) were here between Sunday, March 16 and Wednesday, March 19.

The Review Team:

• Joe Bertolino, President, Stockton University (Team Chair and Standard I)
• Amit Bandyopadhyay, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor, SUNY College of Technology at Farmingdale (Standard II)
• Joanna Flynn, Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost, Pennsylvania College of Technology (Standard III)
• Mark Murdock, Enrollment Counselor/Academic Advisor, Salem Community College (Standard IV)
• Anu Shastri, Professor of Educational Psychology, SUNY Oneonta (Standard V)
• Kirk Jones, Director of Assessment/Associate Professor of English, SUNY College of Technology at Canton (Standard VI)
• Jacqueline Clark, SVP for Administration and Finance, Medgar Evers College/CUNY (Standard VII)
• Alexandra Chaillou, Associate Director, Institution Review (MHEC Representative)
• Melissa Leuschel, Senior Education Analyst, Institution Review (MHEC Representative)

St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) is excited to engage in the self-study and peer review process to re-affirm our accreditation through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). Over the course of the next two years, our campus will have a range of opportunities to critically self-reflect on and discuss our mission, our work, and the plans for the future. It is an exciting moment for the SMCM community, as the initial stages of this effort have been overlapping with the development of our new strategic plan. These two initiatives will provide key direction and inspiration for our institution in the years to come.

Between Spring 2023 and Spring 2025, when we expect peer evaluators from MSCHE to visit our campus, I invite all of our campus community to engage with these conversations and opportunities to highlight our successes, question our challenges, and inspire ideas for innovating how we continue to embody and embrace our place as the National Public Honors College in a manner consistent with our ethos, the St. Mary’s Way.

The general public had the opportunity to submit comments to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education regarding SMCM’s compliance with standards for accreditation, requirements of affiliation, policies and procedures, and applicable federal regulatory requirements. The comment period has passed as of December 1, 2024.

Though the self-study process will be inclusive of all campus constituencies, the leadership work of MSCHE reaffirmation of accreditation will be guided by three key groups: the Self-Study Co-Chairs, the Steering Committee, and the Work Groups. The Self-Study Co-Chairs provide leadership to the Steering Committee, who in turn, provide leadership to the Work Groups.

In October 2022, then President Tuajuanda C. Jordan announced the Co-Chairs of the Self-Study as Katy Arnett ‘00, PhD, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Educational Studies, and Anne Marie Brady ‘93, PhD, Assistant Vice President of Institutional Research and Planning. Since our last Middle States reaffirmation visit in 2015, Co-Chairs Arnett and Brady have been actively involved in expanding our work and conversations around the process of continuous reflection and improvement at SMCM.

Faculty and staff with a range of disciplinary expertise, service experiences, and institutional perspectives comprise the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee is charged with designing the structure, priorities, and outcomes of the self-study process, and will be offering leadership to the campus community throughout this process. Each member of the steering committee will co-chair one of the work groups that will be created to support the review and reflection around each of the seven MSCHE standards. Co-chairs Arnett and Brady are joined by these members of the SMCM Community on the Steering Committee:

• Geoffrey Bowers, PhD, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
• Michael Dunn, JD, Director of Professional Pathways
• Barrett Emerick, PhD, Associate Professor of Philosophy
• Joanne Goldwater, MEd, Associate Dean of Retention & Student Success
• Mary Grube, MS, Assistant Vice President of Finance
• Jeffrey Byrd, PhD, Special Asst to the President, Emeritus Professor of Biology
• Bill Roberts, PhD, Professor of Anthropology
• Sahar Shafqat, PhD, Professor of Political Science
• Jackie Savarese, Administrative Assistant for Accreditation