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Reaccreditation creates vision for campus

November 18, 2009 By Dennis Chaptman

The enormous, campuswide task of examining the university’s mission and charting a course for its future has resulted in a 10-year institutional reaccreditation.

The reaccreditation, which does not require further follow-up, was made by the Higher Learning Commission, a commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

“Because of the way we conducted the self-study, using exceptionally inclusive and transparent processes, we created a rare moment in time where there was alignment across campus and widespread buy-in to a shared vision for the future.”

Nancy Mathews, director of the Reaccreditation Project

“This two-year process of self-study gave us a chance to articulate our values, define our mission and establish a strategic plan to move the university forward together,” says Provost Paul DeLuca. “This was an inclusive community effort. It gives us an organic plan and allows us to align our goals campuswide.”

Accreditation is the primary means of assuring accountability and improving the quality of higher education institutions. It is required to receive federal and state funding and is essential for private-sector financial support. UW–Madison has been continuously accredited since 1913.

But this process went well beyond that need to demonstrate how the university meets the accreditation criteria. The 2009 reaccreditation process created a shared vision and a strategic framework to guide campus decisions and establish thoughtful priorities for the future.

Nancy Mathews, who led the campus’s reaccreditation effort, says that more than 6,000 people were engaged in the effort, and more than 300 participated in the work of theme teams. Their work results in a 317-page self-study that informed the reaccreditation process and provided guidance for the university’s future.

“Because of the way we conducted the self-study, using exceptionally inclusive and transparent processes, we created a rare moment in time where there was alignment across campus and widespread buy-in to a shared vision for the future,” Mathews says.

A site visit by a team assembled by the Higher Learning Commission was held from April 27-29. The team’s consultant evaluators, the majority from peer institutions, were highly impressed. They found the self-study reports to “contain impressive, thought-provoking creativity, analysis and integration of ideas and possibilities.”

Their report recognized the university for its energetic effort to reinvest in facilities, its strong culture of extramural support, and its ability to recruit and retain a “faculty of the highest caliber, with many enthusiastic for interdisciplinary work.”

The team also found that the emphasis on outreach through the Wisconsin Idea helps solidify the university’s excellence.

“The powerful Wisconsin Idea continues to shape and illuminate vision and mission at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and proves adaptable to changing times,” the report states.

The team noted Chancellor Biddy Martin’s assertion that “UW-Madison is one of the highest quality providers of the education and research on which future economic, social and cultural progress depends.”

According to the team, Martin’s statement was born out by the self-study, the campus and its constituents.

“Team members applaud this outstanding public research university for its range of significant accomplishments and progress and its continuing commitment to world-class education, research and public engagement,” the team said.

In closing, the report advised UW–Madison to “continue on its course of engaged and goal-driven progress and anticipates that, 10 years on, the next Higher Learning Commission team will again be witness to an institution that has continued to grow in stature and excellence.”

Mathews says the evaluation captured the campus culture, noting the strengths and traditions that set UW–Madison apart. She said that while the team found no serious concerns about the university, they did offer a number of recommendations for consideration, among them:

  • Enhance administrative and financial flexibilities
  • Continue to seek creative solutions to compensation challenges to recruit and retain world-class faculty, staff and students
  • Refocus and align diversity and climate initiatives
  • Continue to assess student learning
  • Increase coordination of international initiatives
  • Explore ways to redefine, reward and promote outreach scholarship
  • Continue to advance interdisciplinary scholarship and promote complex problem-based approaches and
  • Explore opportunities for growth in continuing education.

In addition to reaccreditation, the two-and-a-half-year process also produced a strategic framework intended to be a living document, informing campus decisions and policy.

The chancellor, in a letter acknowledging the team’s report, said that the university was pleased with the assessment, especially during a time when public higher education faces challenging times.

“We are grateful to the team for its reflections on ways in which public institutions such as ours can and must strive to maintain access, increase diversity and continue to serve the public while also contributing to advancements in science and technology and the arts and humanities,” she wrote.

Mathews emphasizes that the success of the effort is attributable to the commitment and passion of those who contributed to the entire effort across the campus.

“As the university moves forward with its implementation of its strategic framework that evolved from the reaccreditation process, I encourage us to continue to embrace the shared governance approach that we used — not only to honor our tradition — but also to ensure that we continue to collectively realize our vision,” she says.

See the report, self-study and other information. Learn more about the strategic plan.