Events and Announcements

Faculty and staff are invited to attend open forums and events during next week's Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) reaccreditation visit, April 3 - 5, 2023. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend these important events if you are able.

• Faculty Open Forum: Mon., Apr. 3: 3:15 - 4 p.m. in the Waterfront Room, Hunt Union
• Staff Open Forum: Tues., Apr. 4: 9:30 - 10:15 a.m. in the Waterfront Room, Hunt Union
• Student Open Forum: Tues., Apr. 4: 3 - 3:45 p.m. in the Waterfront Room, Hunt Union
• Exit Report Out from Middle States Team - open to all: Wed., Apr. 5: 9:30 -10:30 a.m. in the Welcome Center Presentation Room and on Teams
• Dialogue Session - Campus Debrief and Recognition - open to all: Wed. Apr. 5: 3 - 4 p.m. in the Craven Lounge, Morris Conference Center

In preparation for the visit and meetings, everyone should review the Regaining Momentum updates site and read our Self-Study. If you have any questions, please email MSCHE@oneonta.edu.

The full schedule for the Middle States team's visit will be posted on the MSCHE webpage.

A team will be visiting campus April 3 – 5 to conduct an on-site evaluation for our reaccreditation through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Faculty and staff will be invited to open forums and a report from the Middle States team. Please mark your calendars now and an email with details about each event will be coming soon.

• Faculty Open Forum: Mon., Apr. 3: 3:15 p.m.
• Staff Open Forum: Tues., Apr. 4: 9:30 a.m.
• Exit Report Out from Middle States Team – open to all: Wed., Apr 5: 9:30 a.m.

Middle States Steering Committee Chairs Andrew Kahl, Eileen Morgan-Zayachek, and Theresa Russo invite all members of the campus community to join us for a discussion about SUNY Oneonta’s Middle States Self Study on Monday, Feb. 13, from 3 - 4 p.m. in the Craven Lounge, Morris Conference Center.

This is an opportunity for you to provide feedback and raise questions on our institution’s posted Self-Study. The Self Study helps us to demonstrate our accomplishments, highlight areas of excellence, and identify opportunities to better serve students. We encourage everyone’s feedback and questions. We have one week left to make any needed changes or improvements!

SUNY Oneonta has taken a major step forward on its journey to Middle States reaccreditation by finishing an advanced draft of its Self-Study. This labor of love was completed by over 70 university employees from across campus who wrote reports on the standards that evolved into the Self-Study chapter drafts. The Self-Study conforms to Middle States’ expectations that we reflect on our institution’s progress as measured through the standards on mission and goals; ethics and integrity; design and delivery of the student learning experience; support of the student experience; effectiveness assessment; planning and resources; and governance/leadership/administration. Please consider reading the Self-Study, which showcases both areas of achievement and areas for improvement, accessible on our Middle States webpage.

We have three weeks before we need to submit the final version of the Self-Study. Information will be shared soon about in-person opportunities to provide feedback to the posted Self-Study Draft. For now please feel free to email input or questions to msche@oneonta.edu.

Join for an update and discussion on our Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) reaccreditation process. The preliminary draft of the self-study report, information about the preliminary visit with the site team chair, and the work ahead will be the focus of the forums. All SUNY Oneonta faculty, staff, and students are invited to attend on 12/2 at 3 p.m. in IRC Lecture Hall 3. Additional info available on the Bulletin website.

Two open forums are being held to discuss our Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) reaccreditation process. The preliminary draft of the self-study report, information about the preliminary visit with the site team chair, and the work ahead will be the focus of the forums. All SUNY Oneonta faculty, staff and students are invited to attend on:

Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. in Craven Lounge, Morris Hall

Friday, Dec. 2 at 3:00 p.m. in IRC Lecture Hall 3

These meetings are intended to help every member of our community better understand the specific criteria of each standard and how SUNY Oneonta rises to meet them. The accreditation process is designed to ensure that degree-granting institutions are well-managed, true to their mission and deliver quality educational programs that meet the needs of the students enrolled in the institution. MSCHE expects our process is inclusive and representative of all members of the campus community. Approximately 70 members of the campus community participated in drafting the self-study. It is important for us to receive feedback on the draft and discuss the ways the institution can improve. The final version of the Self-Study report is due at the end of January 2023.

The preliminary Draft Self Study Report is available on our SUNY Oneonta MSCHE website.

Contact: Laura Lincoln, Office of Alumni Engagement

Our Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) reaccreditation process is moving to the next phase. The hard work of the 80 faculty and staff comprising the “standards working groups” has resulted in a first draft of the college’s Self-Study. The draft is available to view on the MSCHE Self Study webpage.

We are hosting our site team chair, Dr. Jeffery Osgood, deputy provost at West Chester University, on Monday, Oct. 24. The purpose of this visit will be to ensure that the campus is ready for the planned April 2-5, 2023, site team visit. Part of Dr. Osgood's assessment will be based on meetings with the college’s MSCHE Steering Committee and Working Group members and discussions about the reaccreditation process with student, faculty, and administrative leadership.

We will hold open forums on Nov. 9, at 1 p.m. and Dec. 2, at p.m. in IRC 3 to discuss our Self-Study report. Please save the date and plan to attend. Reaccreditation is critical for the college and our receipt of federal funding, and we need to receive feedback representing all constituencies. The final version of the Self-Study report is due at the end of Jan. 2023.

It is important that all who wish to be heard have a chance to participate. We encourage all to attend, share your thoughts, stay informed, and support the development and growth of the college. This update on Q&A will be on:
Friday, Oct. 7, 3 p.m.
IRC room 2

View the update and Q&A presentation

The open forums via Microsoft Teams on April 6, 7, and 8 will be opportunities for campus members to review the preliminary findings of the Middle States work groups and to ask questions and provide feedback. We invite everyone to participate in as many as they are able to:

April 6 at 2 p.m.: Standards I, II, and IV
April 7 at 3 p.m.: Standards III and IV
April 8 at 11 a.m.: Standards V and VI

Wednesday, April 6, 2 -3 p.m.

Thursday, April 7, 2-3 p.m.

Friday, April 8, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

View the open forum presentation

This semester the seven work groups shouldering our reaccreditation effort got down to brass tacks: They conducted a thorough search for evidence of institutional achievements and began drafting parts of the self-study due for submission next January. Their challenge has been to identify the assessments that most directly relate to Middle States’ standards. Rest assured, they have found abundant evidence that the College has satisfied its obligation to advance its mission.

The work groups themselves epitomize the commitment demonstrated so consistently in the evidence they have surfaced. Just as the work groups have tirelessly collaborated on the self study, faculty, staff and administrators have partnered in countless ways since the last accreditation in 2013 to improve conditions for learning and living in and beyond our community.

Although reaccreditation efforts are not typically seen as inspiring, some work group members have admitted that collaborating on the self-study has proved strangely gratifying—that they have enjoyed reviewing past collective achievements whether or not they themselves had participated in the former work. One member described the evidence hunt and drafting of the self-study as “refreshing opportunities” to dwell on positive achievements. Another claimed he benefited from seeing the health of the institution affirmed by external standards.

Next month there will be opportunities for campus members to review the preliminary findings of the work groups and to ask questions or otherwise weigh in through online open forums. (Please look for details about these forums—provisionally planned for April 6, 7 and 8 — in announcements in The Oneonta Bulletin.) Indeed, given the work groups are still in the most formative stage of organizing the evidence of our collective achievement, feedback offered now will have the most potential impact on the drafting of the self-study chapters. During the fall semester, additional opportunities to engage the self-study findings will of course be offered, but the winter submission deadline and the planning of the Middle States campus visit next spring will begin to take priority, so please consider sharing your knowledge and perspectives at this early stage!

The Middle States Work Groups have had a busy semester gathering evidence and outlining their reports related to the seven Middle States Standards. Next, they will draft the reports that will eventually become the chapters of the college’s Self-Study. Students have joined each Work Group for this significant phase. The College Council also had its first engagement with the reaccreditation process that is underway, hosting a presentation on Middle States’ expectations by co-chairs Theresa Russo and Eileen Morgan-Zayachek.

The wider campus community will be encouraged to participate in the process and provide input on the drafts through open forums planned for the spring (details forthcoming). By that time, the campus will also know who Middle States has assigned as the site team chair for our spring 2023 campus visit.

It would not be possible to move our reaccreditation process forward without the efforts of the 80+ members of our Work Groups. Many thanks go to them for their service and commitment to the college.

This will be a big year for advancing our Middle States reaccreditation work. The working groups will be identifying and curating evidence related to the seven Middle States Standards, as well as the other Requirements of Affiliation. Later in the year the working groups will draft the college’s self-study. As they proceed, they will seek feedback from the wider campus community.

To help lead the crucial next phase of this effort, two faculty members on the Steering Committee, Julie Licata and Drew Kahl, have agreed to join the Planning Committee, and Mary Lynn Bensen has assumed responsibility for managing the Evidence Inventory we are required to maintain throughout this process. Please thank your colleagues for shouldering this work and look for future invitations to engage and provide input on the self-study chapter drafts.

Preparation for writing our College’s Middles States Self-Study continued this summer. The planning grids created last spring by the working groups for each standard were reviewed by the co-chairs, who were impressed by the detail and broad institutional thinking evident in the grids. The next step for the working groups will be to research and gather the evidence used to respond to specific Middle States standards, and then start drafting their chapters in preparation for submission of the Self-Study in 2022-2023.

Thank you to all who have been involved in this process. We are well on our way.

The process for SUNY Oneonta's reaccreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) remains on schedule. Dr. Kushnood Haq, Middle States' vice president of Institutional Field Relations, met with several members of our campus community on June 10 and June 16, including members of the Middle States Reaccreditation Steering Committee, members of the Senate Steering Committee, members of Cabinet, and students.

Dr. Haq extolled both our Self-Study design, finding strong evidence of its inclusive underpinning, and the first phase of work led by the Reaccreditation Steering Committee. The Self-Study Design acts as a blueprint for our process. It outlines the sections of the self-study, tasks to be accomplished throughout the process and the timeline for completing activities. It also serves as a guide for the Steering Committee and its working groups and helps to ensure that required elements of the self-study are completed as stipulated and on time. Dr. Haq also emphasized the need to keep our established institutional priorities at the forefront of our self-study evaluation as we draft it in the coming year.

Thank you to the members of the Reaccreditation Steering Committee and working groups for their dedication to this vital process for our institution.

As you may know, a team of faculty, staff and administration have taken the first steps in a two-year process of seeking Middle States reaccreditation. At the last College Senate meeting, the steering committee co-chairs described the new emphasis within Middle States on telling the institution’s story of continuous improvement efforts and lessons learned. The co-chairs thank those who submitted feedback on the college’s institutional priorities since the last reaccreditation in 2013. The feedback has led, specifically, to a re-framing of the priority focused on communication.

The workgroups drafting chapters of the college’s self-study have been busy establishing their approach to evaluating the college’s progress vis-à-vis Middle States standards. Some have even begun the essential process of identifying and locating evidence on which to base their findings. For the workgroups to succeed, they need considerable input from campus colleagues who have worked on different planning efforts, initiatives and assessments over the years.

Please don’t be surprised if you are asked to share your understanding or provide information. Inclusive campus participation is of course vitally important for telling our institution’s story accurately and fully.

Future updates will be shared here, but feel free to visit online to see more details on the college’s Middle States Accreditation process.

This fall, the college will begin the process of seeking reaccreditation through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Better known as MSCHE or just “Middle States,” the commission visits SUNY Oneonta every 10 years to examine our institution as a whole, helping us to demonstrate our accomplishments, highlight areas of excellence and identify opportunities to better serve students.

Our reaccreditation will culminate in a site visit during the 2022-2023 academic year. However, the first step, beginning this fall, is to conduct a self-study. To lead this effort, I’ve appointed a MSCHE Steering Committee that Theresa Russo and Lisa Snyder will co-chair. Graciously agreeing to serve with them are:

• Caitlin Allen
• Brendan Aucoin
• Amanda Finch
• Julie Licata
• Kathy Meeker
• Eileen Morgan-Zayachek
• Maurice Odago
• Rebecca O’Donnell
• Denise Straut

We are counting on participation from across the campus community because our objective is to produce the best self-study possible. That means including many voices and a range of perspectives. You will hear more from the MSCHE Steering Committee in the coming months, I am sure. For the time being, please join me in thanking all of the members for lending their talent and time to this crucial work.