Every seven years, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) requires all accredited Middle States institutions to go through the self-study process to renew their accreditation. Marywood is currently in the self-study process and will continue into 2025.

According to the MSCHE, the Middle State Accreditation is a process intended to strengthen the quality of higher education. When accredited, academic institutions are required to follow standards regulated by the United States Department of Education and take responsibility for improvement.

Marywood was originally accredited in 1921 and was last assessed in 2017. Associate Provost Leslie Christianson is the institutional liaison at Marywood University and is heading the self-study process for the 2025-26 school year.

Christianson describes that through this process, it takes a year to create a self-study report on the standards highlighted by the MSCHE. After that, a group of faculty members from similar institutions will read the report and determine if Marywood follows said standards. These standards examine the ethics and integrity, support of the student experience, along with leadership and administration.

Through the self-study process, Marywood has worked on the first steps and worked towards making a template that highlights how Marywood follows each standard, student outcomes and goals in the self-study process.

The MSCHE standards changed in June 2023 and Marywood has become one of the first cohorts to use the 14th edition for accreditation and will become an example for other institutions. However, some adjustments needed to be made to the template before submission on May 17.

Vice President for the Student Experience Dr. Jeff Kegolis and Christianson highlighted the projected timeline for the rest of the Self-study. Kegolis stated, “The heart of the work will continue to happen through early to mid-fall of ‘25 because we need to submit the final document in December.” Christianson added, “The full self-study won’t be due until spring of 2026.”

The self-study process is also very student-orientated. Groups aimed at dissecting Marywood’s completion of the MSCHE standards are faculty-run however student input is very important through this process. No matter if they participate in a meeting or are a voice in a focus group, their opinions are important to the self-study process.
“This is a process that helps make Marywood University stronger and so we want that feedback, so when people can contribute we really value the help,” Kegolis said.

Christianson and Kegolis shared similar final thoughts about the accreditation and the self-study process. “Some feel like we need to do these things for accreditation but we’re doing it because it’s best practices and our peers have recognized that these are the best way for us to achieve our goals,” added Christianson.

Kegolis appreciates how this process will help shape Marywood to become better in the next few years.

“I think the beauty of this process is that it allows us to take a step back and reflect, when it comes to our mission and our vision and our core values, how does that play into A, B, C, and D. Do we do this according to our vision, yes or no?” said Kegolis.

Reach out to Christianson here for more information about the self-study process and how students can get involved: [email protected]

Contact the Writer: [email protected]