Self-study to boost image
Re-accreditation process begins with obstacles, some optimism

By Melissa Christensen
Staff Reporter

Faculty cynicism and disinterest were pinpointed as obstacles to overcome in the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools re-accreditation process at the first meeting of the self-study steering committee Wednesday at the Mary Couts Burnett Library.

The steering committee, which is responsible for submitting the final report to SACS, met to set goals of the self-assessment and establish a timeline of activities.

Alan Shepard, director of the SACS self-study and English department chair, said this re-accreditation is a chance to improve TCU’s image to SACS.

“We’re sort of in a deficit with SACS,” he said. “They think we don’t have a respect for their purpose.”Dennis Alexander, director of corporate and foundation relations, said faculty support is important to the accreditation process because the assessment ultimately benefits TCU.

“The recommended changes are more important for the sake of the university community,” he said. “The goal is to get more out of the self-study than just SACS accreditation.”

Nowell Donovan, Moncrief chair of geology, said split loyalties between membership in the TCU community and professional advancement have caused faculty to be unresponsive to the accreditation process.

“The faculty community has never bought into the intellectual concept of self-assessment,” he said.

Sherry Reynolds, associate professor of educational foundations and administration, said disinterest has developed because the faculty has not seen results from previous assessment processes.

“They need some assurance that the (self-study) reports aren’t going to be sent to a black hole,” she said.

Shepard said one way to alleviate the cynicism about the process is to emphasize the visible reactions to Commission on the Future of TCU recommendations, such as the restructuring of the undergraduate curriculum requirements and the trustees’ approval of a $30 million recreation center.

“We are looking to the commission as proof that when 500 people get together, things happen,” he said.

Several approaches to encouraging faculty and staff to buy into the self-assessment process were discussed, including visits to all departments and an explanatory mass e-mail.

Larry Lauer, vice chancellor for Marketing and Communication, said the committee needs to downplay the mechanical and bureaucratic aspects of accreditation.

“If there’s going to be a new spirit in this process, that spirit has to be communicated in a human way,” he said.

Kelli Horst, director of communications, suggested approaching the process as a campaign, similar to the themed promotion surrounding the commission.

Other committee members expressed concerns that equivalent energy would be hard to generate because of the small time frame between the two processes.

“Accreditation is not as exciting in concept as the Commission on the Future,” Alexander said. “We have to establish credibility that this is a real process, and it will have real results.”

Reynolds said the committee should simply expect people to do the work, and do it well.

To prevent faculty and staff from losing interest in the process, Shepard said he and associate director Bob Seal had not contacted members of the five principal committees.

“I didn’t want to get them into the starting blocks and then say, ‘We’ll get back to you in a couple months’,” Shepard said.

A tentative three-year timeline focusing on the next five months was set. A written plan including goals, a budget, a roster of committee members and a bibliography of resources is due to SACS by June 1. By then all committee members will be appointed and the steering committee will assign areas of the accreditation criteria to study. The steering committee will also develop a style guide and appoint an editor to each principle committee this semester to ease the editing process of the written reports.

Melissa Christensen
m.s.christense@student.tcu.edu