The Observer, October 21, 2005
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 8
Reaccreditation reviews Case's aspirations
This article is the second of a two-part series on the accreditation process at Case.
Last year, Case was reaccredited as an institution of higher learning. During the process, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) came to review Case's self-study of strengths and weaknesses and made two reports of its own.
Just recently, a vote on whether Case should be reaccredited for another ten years was held on the recommendations of those reports. The recommendation was accepted, so Case won't need to be reaccredited until 2014-2015.
The reports did not just explore whether Case deserved to be accredited, but also the improvements that need to be made.
Both documents from the HLC and the self-study took issue with Case's system of class assessment. "The question being asked is, how do we know the students are learning what we think they are learning?" Don Feke, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education said.
The assurance section of the reports singled out assessment in its discussion of core components that need attention. Many undergraduate programs at Case only use end-of-term surveys to determine how the class went, according to Feke. However, these surveys do not directly assess the content of the class. They review the workload and how students feel about the course in general.
The report related the school's goal of becoming "the most powerful learning environment in the world" to the school's assessment system. "Without good assessment data on learning, Case will not know how it is doing in the effort to reach its ambitious goal, and it will not be able to persuade others that it is succeeding," according to the HLC report.
However, Case has the potential of becoming a leader in the area of assessment the report added. According to the report, concentrating on improving assessment, would help the school further its goal in an area where other schools will not be ready to compete. The report did state that the graduate and professional schools are farther along in the area of assessment, which is due to the professional requirements in those fields.
The report also said that the participation of the faculty in the creation of the vision was "critical." That wasn't the only time faculty played a role in the report. Arts and Sciences faculty members were mentioned in the report specifically because of their concern with facilities.
"No new arts building has been put up in contemporary times, and despite renovation of existing buildings, no additional facilities have been built to handle the additional students that will be generated by planned increases in enrollment," stated the report. It added that faculty expressed that departments are undersized and have small support staffs.
Within the school itself, there are strengths too. The report said that SAGES will be important to the revitalization of Arts and Sciences. The participation of all parts of Case in SAGES, from the dental school to the art history department, was considered a very positive sign of interdisciplinary faculty participation.
The report covered issues outside the curriculum as wall, saying that Case's community involvement is impressive. The Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences and the Dental School were both highlighted as examples of Case working with community in beneficial ways. The report said that there is room for even more activities between the school and the community.
Other areas that the report complimented were the school's libraries and the overall progress the commission found in the university since the last report. However, staff development and studyiabroad programs were mentioned as "in need of attention." The creation of a new student center to replace Thwing was also mentioned as something the university needs to keep as a high priority, along with increased diversity.
The only area that the commission is looking for an update on before the next accreditation period is the school budget. Case plans to rebalance the budget in 2007-2008 and the report requests a report on the university's financial performance during that time period.
There were no parts of the university for which the report found evidence of not meeting requirements. The result is that for the next ten years, students at Case can be sure that every program on campus meets or exceeds accreditation standards.
