Middles States Open Forum

On Thursday, March 13, Dr. Andrea Lex came to Frostburg State University (FSU) to have the Middle States Forum. The Middle State Commission of Higher Education (MSCHE) is recognized by the U.S Secretary of Education to conduct accreditation and pre-accreditation activities for institutions of higher education in Delaware, DC, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, and the U.S Virgin Islands, including distance education and correspondence education programs offered at those institutions.

This forum is held twice every ten years to determine whether FSU should be reaccredited. The Commission is a voluntary, non-government organization that promotes education excellence. It examines each institution as a whole, rather than specific programs within institutions. Faculty and staff members gathered together at this forum to talk about the future of this reaccreditation process.

The main question that Dr. Lex wanted the faculty and staff to know is “Is Frostburg meeting our missions?” Middle State’s wants institutions to become better and make all of the programs provided at the institution to excel. The first five years of the reaccreditation process is basically a “paper check in.” This is when the school asks questions about how it is progressing. In years 6-10, the university should take steps back and look what the institution is doing well in and what they need to work on and make the proper changes. Frostburg is in the seventh year. Dr. Lex stated that FSU is doing well with its strategic plan and progressing forward. This meeting was the forward kickoff for the next two-year process for reaccreditation.The Middle States trust that every institution asks itself yearly what they can do better.

Based on recommendations from faculty and staff, a team will come next March and meet with many individuals. The team will ask questions from many individuals from the university. The main goal for this is to find if FSU is being consistent with their programs. The faculty and staff make the recommendation on who is to join the team and they should be very diligent on how many make the team. The team is ideally between 6-9 people, depending on the university size. It would consist of a faculty member, a financial person, a student service person, a review and renew person, and other categories. The chair on the team is normally a President from an institution that is similar to that institution, and in that case it would be FSU.

There are two types of follow-ups that MSCHE conduct during the reaccreditation process; progress reports and monitor reports. They both happen within one or two years. The progress report happens when the institution is in compliance with all the standard, but they still want some kind of follow up to make sure things are going in the right track. The monitor report is more serious and serves as a warning that the institution is going in the wrong direction.

Dr. Lex gave some encouraging words to all the faculty and staff members that were involved in this forum. She explained to them “this is your process.” It is understood that if a school does not have accreditation then they basically do not exist, which is not beneficial to the students. “Ultimately it is about the students… none of us would be here without them,” Dr. Lex told staff and faculty. The students should be the ultimate goal of this mission and she wants to make sure every institution understands that. FSU is moving on the right track and the next two years will be a busy process. June 2016 marks around the 10 year period and when the reaccreditation period starts.