Dartmouth Posts Draft of Its ‘Institutional Self-Study Report’

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The posting is part of the reaccreditation process the institution began in 2018.

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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
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Dartmouth yesterday posted a draft of its “Institutional Self-Study Report,” which is part of the reaccreditation process the College began in January 2018.

The 100-plus-page report, written by faculty and administrators serving on the College’s reaccreditation implementation group, reflects on how well Dartmouth currently meets the standards for accreditation and makes suggestions for improvement.

“We are pleased to present this document to the community for feedback,” says F. Jon Kull ’88, dean of the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies and chair of the steering committee that is leading the process.

“The reaccreditation process involves collecting input and feedback from the entire Dartmouth community, so by releasing this draft now we will be able to incorporate changes into the final draft, which will be submitted in August,” he says.

There will be a reaccreditation forum at Dartmouth Hall 105 from 1:30 to 2:15 p.m. on April 4. The forum is open to the public. Comments on the self-study draft are welcome and can be submitted at reaccreditation@dartmouth.edu.

Dartmouth’s current accreditation runs through 2020.

The institution’s accreditation is reviewed every 10 years by the New England Commission of Higher Education, or NECHE (formerly the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc., NEASC). The nongovernmental, nonprofit, self-regulatory peer review process is intended to provide public assurance of institutions’ educational quality. While accreditation is not mandatory, some federal funding is tied to it and it is a key validation of an institution’s reputation.

The self-study report provides details on College planning and evaluation; organization and governance; the undergraduate academic program and student life; teaching, learning, and scholarship; institutional resources; educational effectiveness; and integrity and transparency.

The process has three phases: the internal self-study, an onsite evaluation by senior leaders from peer institutions, and a review and final decision by NEASC.

After the final version of the self-study is submitted to the commission in August, the on-site evaluation team will visit campus Oct. 27-30. The commission will then consider the evaluation team’s report and Dartmouth’s self-study, and meet with College leadership. A decision on accreditation is expected in late-winter or spring of 2020.

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