Strategic Planning and the Middle States Accreditation Review

To the New School Community:

As many of you have heard me say, we will be undertaking a strategic planning effort in order to provide the university with a clear vision of its future. Coincidently and fortuitously, The New School will be reviewed for reaccreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education in 2012—2013. The immediate purpose of the Middle States review is to determine whether our accreditation should be continued. This process also provides an important opportunity for The New School to take a comprehensive look at itself. We will ask ourselves a number of questions:

• How well are we meeting our academic mission and serving our students?
• What kind of teaching cultivates the intellectual and professional development required by the changing marketplace?
• How effective is the infrastructure that supports students, faculty, and staff in pursuing their academic goals?
• Fundamentally, how well is The New School providing a distinctive educational experience that prepares students for successful and rewarding careers as well as for the fulfilling intellectual, creative, and civic engagement that is The New School's hallmark?

Associate Provost Ron Kassimir and McWelling Todman, Chair and Associate Professor of Psychology will co-chair the Steering Committee that will guide the self-study process, with working groups who will evaluate everything from classroom work to business operations.

Visit www.newschool.edu/leadership/middle-states/ for information about the review process and to share feedback with the Steering Committee. The website will explain the process in greater detail, describe milestones in the two-year timeline, and welcome input from the university community.

I look forward to working with you all for a productive and illuminating look at The New School.