Syracuse University officials are still seeking feedback on a draft report key to SU student federal financial aid opportunities.

By early October, the university must send a set of recommendations to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The recommendations, included in a reaccreditation report, detail SU academic and co-curricular programs.

Middle States is a nonprofit organization that serves as an accreditation service for colleges. The United States Department of Education uses Middle States accreditation as a benchmark. This means accreditation by Middle States is needed for university students to receive federal tuition aid assistance.

Colleges across the U.S. must go through the accreditation process every eight years.

“It’s good for us, it’s going to make us better. It’s going to make us into a stronger university,” said Rochelle Ford, a chair of SU’s Middle States Reaccreditation Steering Committee.

Campus feedback will be accepted until Friday. At that time, the accreditation committee will start making final edits, if needed, to the SU report, Ford said.

SU peer institution officials will review the recommendations and campus next year. Ford said she does not know which peer institutions will conduct the review, but the review group is chaired by James Bean, Northeastern University provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

Middle States officials will vote to approve or deny the reaccreditation request in the spring.

Students, faculty and staff can provide Middle States feedback via an online form, Ford said. During the first few weeks of the semester, more students provided feedback than faculty, she added.

“We really have reflected on what we’re doing well and what we’re not doing well,” she said.

Ford, chair of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications’ public relations department, said she is hoping Middle States officials approve SU’s recommendations and agree the university is compliant in all standards.

The recommendations include strengthening coordinated assessments for programs across campus ranging from classes to Greek life, Ford said. The university also wants to adopt a proposed “4+4” plan, which details a new reasoning skill model for undergraduate education.

“There are certainly areas we have to be better in,” such as campus-wide student assessment, Ford said.  “(But) fiscally … we’re in better shape, better than we’ve been. We’re on the right trajectory.”

Published on September 20, 2017 at 11:48 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek