To: Wellesley College Community
From: Pamela Taylor, Assistant Provost, Institutional Planning & Assessment, on behalf of the Accreditation Steering Committee
Re: Accreditation Update
Date: February 6, 2018

As Bryan Burns, co-chair of the Accreditation Steering Committee, wrote to you in the fall, the College’s decennial accreditation is a time to take stock of where Wellesley is and to articulate common goals for the future. In preparation for Wellesley’s 2019 accreditation review by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), the self-study steering committee has been working to assess the College’s current state vis à vis NEASC standards and to gather input and feedback from its many stakeholders. The report below was authored on behalf of the Accreditation Steering Committee.

Community Outreach

One of the main goals for the fall semester was to inform the community about the purpose of accreditation and to give an overview of the accreditation process. Bryan Burns and Pam Taylor made presentations to Academic Council, Administrative Council, College Government and the Board of Trustees. The Wellesley News wrote an article on the accreditation process in October to spread the word among students. In addition, the steering committee held two community-wide discussions about the College’s mission and curriculum. These conversations provided rich insight into key issues and challenges facing the College and highlighted the need to articulate the values associated with our mission. We look forward to more community outreach this spring.

Self-Study

In the fall semester, we focused on gathering information and evidence about how the College meets each of the nine standards for accreditation. We will use this information to demonstrate Wellesley’s strengths and challenges in these areas and to develop our plans to improve the quality of education.

Members of the steering committee visited Trinity College to gain insight about accreditation process and the preparation of the self-study under the new standards. We also attended the NEASC annual conference in December that focused on integrating assessment into our institutions.

In addition, we are indebted to the Committee on Curriculum and Academic Policy and the past and current members of the Budget Advisory Committee who are engaged in important work to support our self-study. We also want to recognize College Government for organizing a much-needed town hall discussion about the multicultural requirement.

Department and Program Learning Outcomes

Departments and programs engaged in discussions about student learning for the major to bring clarity to what we want our students to have gained as a result of their education. Bryan and Pam made an initial presentation to department chairs and program directors at their retreat in late August. Pam followed up with an in-depth discussion on refining learning outcomes at the November meeting. In addition, Pam & Bryan made themselves available for one-on-one consultations and meetings with departments and provided feedback on draft language for learning outcomes. We are very pleased with the progress that our departments and programs have made toward revising their learning outcomes. We look forward to receiving the final versions of these outcomes.

Data First Forms

During the summer, the Office of Institutional Research (OIR) started to gather data about the College required by NEASC. We wish to thank our colleagues in Career Education, Communication and Public Affairs, Facilities, Finance, Human Resources, LTS, Provost’s Office, and Student Financial Services for diligently providing these data and continuing to do the necessary work to improve the way the College captures and reports this information. OIR attended the NEASC hands-on workshop on the Data First forms and will continue its work to complete the forms throughout the spring semester.

Looking Ahead to the Spring

The steering committee will continue its work to identify priorities for the College and gather information in support of our plans to improve. Last week we engaged the Board of Trustees in a discussion regarding the values associated with College’s mission. We plan to continue this discussion of mission and values with other members of the community.

Please know you may send your questions or concerns about the accreditation work to: accreditationquestions@wellesley.edu. The planning committee will make sure these issues get routed to the appropriate team. The external evaluators will visit Wellesley in March 2019.

Thank Yous

The steering committee appreciates our colleagues across the campus for meeting with us and for providing information critical to our efforts: Albright Institute for Global Affairs, Calderwood Public Writing Program, Career Education, Class Deans, College Government Cabinet, Diversity and Inclusion, Facilities, Honor Code Council, Human Resources, LTS, Newhouse Center for the Humanities, PERA, Registrar’s Office, Title IX/Non-discrimination, and Wellesley Centers for Women.

Lastly, we wish to thank the academic departments who met with members of the steering committee focusing on Standard 8-Educational Effectiveness: Art History, French, Mathematics, Political Science, Psychology, and Women’s & Gender Studies. These discussions deepened the team’s understanding of changes to the curriculum and highlighted the importance of co-curricular experiences for student learning.

Members of the Accreditation Steering Committee:

Planning Team
Bryan Burns, Classical Studies (co-chair)
Pamela Taylor, Institutional Research (co-chair)
Marianne Cooley, AVP & Secretary of the Board

Faculty
Stacie Goddard, Political Science
Irene Mata, Women’s & Gender Studies
Phyllis McGibbon, Art
Megan Nuñez, Chemistry
Carlos Ramos, Spanish
Ismar Volić, Mathematics
Akila Weerapana, Economics

Students
Aviva Feldman, Spanish ’19
Megumi Murakami ’20
Kindred Obas, English ’19
Tory Roth, Chemistry ’18
Ally Uchitelle ’20

Senior Leadership Team/Staff
Paula Johnson, President
Andy Shennan, Provost
Sheilah Horton, VP & Dean of Students
Joy St. John, Dean of Admission & Student Financial Services
Ann Velenchik, Dean of Academic Affairs
Piper Orton, VP of Finance & Administration
Cameran Mason, VP of Resources & Public Affairs
Carol Bate, Associate Dean of Students
Elizabeth Gildersleeve, Chief Communications Officer