The New England Association of Schools and Colleges is evaluating Dartmouth College this week as part of a mandatory reaccreditation process conducted every 10 years.
Accreditation involves a week-long examination of Dartmouth by a visiting committee of eight representatives of U.S. colleges and universities, this year chaired by University of Chicago President Hugo Sonnenschein.
The committee will submit a report and a series of recommendations to the NEASC after their visit. Dartmouth has never failed to be reaccredited.
According to Associate Provost of the College Peter Gilbert, the visiting committee's job is to view the College as a whole in order to ensure that it is a fit place for an academic education.
"They are looking at the mission and purpose, physical resources, student services, faculty, programs and instruction, library and information resources and financial resources," Gilbert said.
Throughout the week, the members of the committee are meeting with small groups of community members to get input on the College.
Yesterday, committee members met with interested community members in the Collis Center to gain both positive and negative feedback on the College.
In a comprehensive effort to make sure that the requirements for reaccreditation will be met, Dartmouth recently completed a year-long self-study which addressed 11 standards mandated for reaccreditation.
In particular Dartmouth's self-study focused on three areas of its own choosing: undergraduate research opportunities, the computing and information environment and internationalism.
According to Gilbert, these three areas were identified by College President James Wright as important to the future of Dartmouth.
Three committees -- comprised of faculty, administrators, undergraduate and graduate students, and representatives from the three professional schools -- were formed to address each of these areas. Each committee is being chaired by a dean.
Additionally, two other committees are addressing the issue of reaccreditation, including an accreditation Steering Committee and the Standards Committee, which addresses the 11 standards.
The process of reaccreditation is mandated by NEASC, and it is this committee that grants accreditation to schools throughout New England.
The visiting committee will create a report comprised of their recommendations for Dartmouth, to be submitted to the NEASC.
The visiting committee received a copy of Dartmouth's self-study in September.
Thus far the visiting committee has met with various students, campus leaders, and had lunch yesterday with members of Palaeopitus -- a group of senior leaders who advise the president of the College.
While this process is mandatory, Gilbert said Dartmouth attempts to take advantage of the reaccreditation process.
"The reaccreditation process is really an opportunity for self-examination and planning, to benefit from external review and from the council of distinguished colleagues in higher education," he said.
The College administration will be looking at the recommendations set forth by the committee as soon as their report is completed.
