SBE sails through its AACSB "Maintenance of Accreditation" Review

I'll let my boss explain this one . . .

Friends: there is much more to tell and I promise you a more detailed report soon but I didn’t want to wait on getting the good news out.  Our AACSB Maintenance of Accreditation team has just left for the airport.  Before leaving however, they shared with us the essence of their recommendations. In their report:

·      They are recommending that our accreditation status be continued for another six years without conditions!  (Please note that this is still technically a recommendation that will need Board approval – we are supposed to refrain from a public announcement until sometime in January.) 

• They express their very high regard for you.  They repeatedly remarked on how hard working you all are and how cohesive and collegial you are as a group.  They love your passion for teaching and for the welfare of our students.  They conclude that we have met all of the faculty qualification standards (again without exception).

• They comment repeatedly on how mission-focused we are as a school.  Although not in their written report, one of them told me that they had never seen a school with greater mission alignment across all facets of the school’s life – teaching, scholarship, co-curricular activities.  We were also commended on our very unique mission and how it shapes who we are and what we do.

• They single out our Centers for praise (and when meeting the President put in a gentle plug for more resources).

• Even the recommendations are largely cast as “you are doing so much – is it sustainable?”  rather than “you have this deficiency.”  This was particularly true with respect to our Assurance of Learning work.  (I don’t take these recommendations lightly and think we need to do some hard thinking here but as the team pointed out they are usually telling schools that their assessment work is too thin whereas they were telling us that it may be a bit more robust than necessary – at least for AACSB purposes.)

• Overall, they referred to this as one of the most pleasant Maintenance of Accreditation visits that they had ever been on.

I’m not sure if during my 8+ years here I have ever felt more proud of our school or more grateful for the privilege of working alongside you.  Thanks for all you do.  (And a special thanks to Gary, Denise and the rest of the Steering Committee for their leadership in getting us so well positioned and to Kathy for coordinating such a smooth visit.)

I know that this may not work for some of you but let’s gather this Friday afternoon at 3:00 for cake and sparkling cider to celebrate this milestone in our life together.

Jeff

JB Checks out Whitworth University

On October 7, 8 and 9 Nancy took Jeannie Beth to Spokane to visit Whitworth.  She liked the four classes she visited, two acting classes, Ear Training, and Ballet. But she was negatively impressed with the long dry drive over and the treeless expanse of eastern Washington.  She especially objected to her experience when the put her in the freshman "party dorm."  Whitworth dropped out of the first choice position in which she'd held it.

Nancy had fun staying again with Carol Bork, the PEO friend she stayed with during the State Track & Field meet in Cheney.  She lets her home out as a bed and breakfast. 

I, of course, delighted in having nearly three days of very rare bachelorhood.  And what did I do?  I processed my photos from the Tuesday BCS race, and ate and ate.  Alas, I had two dinners each night, a big breakfast when I got home from work, and a baked potato with the works later.  No discipline.  And Friday after work I had to spend cleaning the kitchen.  I also caught up on a few episodes of Heroes at NBC.com.