A little more than a year into Penn State’s 2024 self-study cycle, efforts continue towards the University’s reaffirmation of accreditation process with our institutional accreditor, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).
Every eight years, MSCHE requires its more than 130 member institutions, including Penn State, to undergo a self-study process. This culminates in a comprehensive written report analyzing the University’s educational quality, success in meeting the institutional mission and identified institutional priorities, and evidence of compliance with MSCHE’s standards of accreditation, requirements of affiliation, and all accreditation-related federal regulations. As part of this two-and-a-half-year self-study process, the University will identify opportunities for continued improvement and innovation.
Institutional accreditation from MSCHE assures students, their families, and the public of the educational quality of a Penn State education. Continued institutional accreditation is also a requirement for the University to participate in the Department of Education’s Title IV federal financial aid program.
The self-study effort is being led by the self-study steering committee, co-chaired by Lance Kennedy-Phillips – vice provost for Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research (OPAIR) and the University’s MSCHE accreditation liaison officer, and David Callejo Pérez, associate vice president and senior associate dean for academic programs with the Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses.
Steering committee members serve as tri-chairs on one of seven working groups, one for each of MSCHE’s standards of accreditation. Steering committee members include representatives from faculty, staff, student and alumni groups, including Laura Pauley, professor of mechanical engineering and executive director of Penn State Faculty Senate, and Barry Bram, senior director of the University’s student engagement programs. Penn State’s senior leadership and representatives from the board of trustees will also actively participate throughout the self-study process.
Full listings of the chairs of each steering committee working group and working group members are available on the University’s self-study website.
The self-study officially kicked off across the University in February and Terence Peavy, MSCHE vice president for institutional field relations and Penn State’s MSCHE liaison, conducted a virtual on-site visit at the University Park campus in April to meet with Penn State President Emeritus Eric J. Barron and Vice President and Provost Emeritus Nick Jones, members of the Board of Trustees, and the steering committee to discuss the commission’s expectations for reaffirmation of accreditation. The steering committee also hosted a virtual informational meeting open to the University community at which Dr. Peavy provided an in-depth explanation of the accreditation process and the role of all Penn Staters in the self-study.
On May 4, MSCHE approved the University’s self-study draft design which serves as a blueprint and guide for the working groups as they undergo their research and write the chapters of the self-study report.
Throughout the summer months, working groups continued to hold regular meetings, compiling evidence to document compliance and complete outlines for their respective chapters at the end of July. The first chapter drafts were submitted to the steering committee in December. The committee is currently reviewing chapter drafts and providing feedback to the groups. Second and third drafts will be submitted this spring, after which chapters will be disseminated to designated readers in the University community for additional feedback.
Once community feedback is considered and incorporated, a draft report will be submitted to the chair of the team of volunteer peer evaluators appointed by MSCHE to determine whether the University is compliant with MSCHE standards and requirements of affiliation. The team chair will conduct an on-site visit in late 2023 to meet with the steering committee and University leadership to discuss the draft report and subsequent site visit by the full peer evaluation team in spring 2024. After necessary revisions are made, the final self-study report will be shared with the University community prior to the evaluation team’s visit. MSCHE will review recommendations of the evaluation team and issue a determination whether accreditation will be reaffirmed in June 2024. A complete timeline of the self-study process is available on the self-study website.
The entire self-study process is supported by OPAIR, and staff is available to answer questions about this critical institutional initiative. Community members who have questions can contact OPAIR at 814-863-8721 or selfstudy@psu.edu.
For updates and more information on Penn State’s MSCHE accreditation and self-study, be sure to visit and bookmark the self-study website.