It’s coming. Daylight saving time, yes (at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 12, to be precise) - but also, something else deserving of the extra precious hour as the springtime pace of the academic year quickens: Geneseo’s Periodic Review Report (PRR).
The PRR is required to fulfill Middle States accreditation requirements. Through the planning and leadership of co-chairs Cathy Adams, associate professor of history, and Ken Kallio, interim associate provost for personnel and diversity, the college is on schedule to complete its PRR by June 1. Before then, however, the campus community will be asked to put the “review” in the PRR.
“The PRR represents the collective spirit of Geneseo,” Adams said. “This truly collaborative project provides us with an opportunity to reflect upon and to share the story of who we are, what we have done, and where we are headed. Reading the PRR, one is made aware of how much we have to be proud of and how much we have yet to do to fulfill our stated mission and values.”
Here’s a look at the PRR and the process driving it.
Q. What is the PRR?
A. The college is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). MSCHE currently follows a 10-year accreditation process that consists of two different accreditation reviews, separated by five years. In 2012, the college completed a decennial review that included the creation of an extensive self-study followed by a campus visit by a team of reviewers from peer institutions. As a result of the 2012 review, Geneseo was fully accredited.
This year, Geneseo is due to complete a mid-term accreditation event that calls for the preparation of a PRR, a self-study document that can be viewed as a kind of progress report. Unlike a decennial review, there is no team visit. MSCHE reviews Geneseo’s PRR and then issues the same accreditation actions as with a decennial review.
Q. What is accreditation based on?
A. Middle States accreditation is based on how well Geneseo meets a set of 14 standards that the commission has published. These standards divide into two sets: one that pertains to the college’s effectiveness as an institution as a whole and a second that specifically addresses educational effectiveness. Geneseo’s PRR must show that the college continues to meet all 14 standards.
As one of the federally recognized regional accreditors, MSCHE also is charged with verifying that accredited higher education institutions comply with specific federal regulations. To accomplish this, MSCHE requires Geneseo to complete a Verification of Compliance Report (VCR) at the same time as the PRR. The VCR covers such matters as how the college determines the awarding of academic credits and whether it provides students (and parents) with all the information required by federal regulation.
Q. What’s in the PRR?
A. The PRR is a very structured document comprising six chapters:
Chapter 1: Executive summary/overview of what’s changed since 2012.
Chapter 2: Response to recommendations made in 2012 by the Middle States Commission and by Geneseo. Note: In 2012, Middle States issued two recommendations and Geneseo issued many itself. Middle States also issued three commendations and a host of suggestions, but the PRR addresses recommendations only.
Chapter 3: Challenges and opportunities, e.g., enrollment, staffing, budget, etc. This chapter is an opportunity to identify major accomplishments and the significant challenges currently facing Geneseo.
Chapter 4: Enrollment and finance trends/projections. This is a data-driven chapter that includes both a review of the last three-to-five years and a projection of the next three-to-five to answer the question, “Is Geneseo a viable institution?”
Chapter 5: Assessment of institutional effectiveness and student learning. This is the longest chapter devoted to showing evidence that the college is actively identifying, measuring and adjusting, as necessary, areas of interest that are important to the institution. It also will demonstrate learning outcomes achieved by students.
Chapter 6: Institutional planning and budgeting. This chapter explains how the College allocates resources to meet its goals.
Q. Who is on the PRR committee?
A. In addition to Co-chairs Adams and Kallio, PRR committee members/chapter authors represent the following areas:
Academic Affairs: Celia Easton, dean of Academic Planning and Advising; Enrico Johnson, assistant provost for Budget and Facilities; George Marcus, associate professor of physics; James McLean, chair of College Senate and associate professor of physics; Karen Mooney, lecturer in psychology; David Parfitt, director of the Teaching and Learning Center; Julie Rao, director of Institutional Research; and Alice Rutkowski, associate professor of English.
Student and Campus Life: Erin Halligan-Avery, administrative director of Student Health and Counseling, and Stacey Wiley, director of Career Development.
Administration and Finance: James Milroy, vice president for Administration and Finance, and Jeff Nordland, director of Accounting and Budgeting Services.
Enrollment Management: Meaghan Arena, vice president of Enrollment Management.
Advancement: Lynn Myers, director of Advancement Services.
In addition, Savi Iyer, assistant provost for curriculum and assessment, and Brice Weigman, associate vice president for administration and controller, are co-chairing the effort to produce the VCR (see “What is accreditation based on?” above).
VCR committee members include Sue Chichester, chief information officer and director of CIT; Doug MacKenzie, Ella Cline Shear School of Education; Lenny Sancilio, dean of students; Adrienne Collier, assistant to the president for Diversity and Equity; Kimberley Willis, registrar; Chris Jadlos, assistant director of Financial Aid; and Megan Kennerknecht, senior financial aid counselor.
Q. What’s the schedule?
A. The PRR committee has been meeting regularly since last August. Team members are now finalizing their assigned chapters. Over the next several weeks, the PRR Committee will share chapters with President Battles and the College Cabinet for review, and then after March 9 to the campus community for input. Information on the PRR and opportunities to comment via wiki space will be shared in a future issue of One College Circle. On or around April 1, PRR committee members will begin final editing of the drafts of the PRR chapters while continuing to collect input in preparation for the June 1 submission.
Q. What happens after June 1?
A. The Middle States Commission will assign two reviewers to the PRR, one for the VCR and one financial expert to review both reports. Reviewers will issue a preliminary report by Aug. 1. This report may contain recommendations, commendations, suggestions or more stringent demands such as added requirements. The College will have one month to respond and must submit revisions to the PRR and VCR by Sept. 1. The Middle States Commission will meet in November to act on Geneseo’s accreditation.
The MSCHE is the process of changing its evaluation process, and Geneseo is part of the final cohort of approximately 100 institutions completing a PRR for the last time. In the future, the accreditation process will occur every eight years but with more extensive annual reporting. The MSCHE covers New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Delaware, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
— By Tony Hoppa, Academic Affairs