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 culminating in a comprehensive written report analyzing the University’s educational quality, success in meeting institutional mission and identified institutional priorities, and evidence of compliance with MSCHE’s standards for accreditation, requirements of affiliation, and all accreditation-related federal regulations.
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.
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 in February 2022 followed by a visit in April by Terence Peavy, MSCHE vice president for institutional field relations and Penn State’s MSCHE liaison. In May 2022, MSCHE approved the University’s self-study draft design which served as a blueprint and guide for the working groups as they researched and wrote the chapters of the self-study report.
Since Spring of 2023, second and third drafts of the report were submitted to various groups as designated readers garnered insights from hundreds of individuals. After the consideration and incorporation of their feedback, a draft report was submitted to the chair of the MSCHE-appointed volunteer evaluators to determine whether the University is compliant with MSCHE standards and requirements of accreditation.
In mid-November, the team chair conducted an on-site visit to University Park to meet with the steering committee and University leadership to discuss the draft report. After necessary revisions are made, a final draft of the self-study report will be shared with the University community in January 2024. The final report will then be submitted to MSCHE in early February.
A subsequent site visit by the entire peer evaluation team will follow in spring 2024. 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 two-and-a-half-year 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.