Boston College has begun a process to compile its Interim (Fifth-Year) Accreditation Report for the New England Commission of Higher Education. A diverse Interim Report Committee of faculty, staff, and students is working together on what will serve as an update to the University’s more expansive Comprehensive Evaluation, a process undertaken every ten years and most recently in 2017. Boston College will submit the more limited Interim Report in early 2022.
The Interim Report’s goal is to reflect on the progress made by BC in the last five years on each of NECHE’s nine “standards for accreditation,” touchpoints that “articulate a dimension of institutional quality,” from “Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship” to “Mission and Purposes,” to a variety of topics related to admissions, student services, and co-curricular experiences. The update includes a reflective essay on educational effectiveness that addresses what a Boston College graduate gains as a result of his or her education, and how BC is assessing student outcomes. The report will also “project areas of focus” for the next five years, leading to Boston College’s next Comprehensive Evaluation in 2027.
NECHE is composed of a professional staff and 27 Commissioners who are senior administrators, faculty and trustees from among its 200 member institutions, elected to three-year terms. The organization accredits more than 200 institutions of higher education in New England and several foreign countries, and has accredited Boston College since 1935.
Boston College’s Interim Report Committee is reaching out to stakeholders around campus to discuss elements of the update, and members of the BC community are invited to share with committee members any input they might have on the report’s areas of focus. Following BC’s submission of the document, NECHE will offer suggestions to the University as it prepares for the 2027 Comprehensive Evaluation.
Boston College’s Interim Report Core Committee and advisors include:
- Chairperson Peter G. Martin, Special Assistant to the President, Office of the President
- Co-Chairperson John J. Burns, Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs, Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculties
- Co-Chairperson Jessica Greene, Associate Vice Provost, Assessment and Accreditation, Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculties
- Fr. Casey Beaumier, S.J., Vice President and University Secretary; Director of the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies
- Rocio Calvo, Director, Latinx Leadership Initiative; Associate Professor, School of Social Work
- Ryan Creps, Doctoral student, Lynch School of Education and Human Development
- Fr. Jean Baptiste Diatta, S.J., Doctoral student, Center for International Higher Education, Lynch School of Education and Human Development
- Brian Gareau, Associate Dean for the Core, Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences; Associate Professor, Sociology Department
- Ryan Heffernan, Associate Director, Campus Ministry
- Mara Hermano, Vice President, Institutional Research and Planning
- Lyndsay King, University Controller, Controller’s Office
- Carrie Klemovitch, Special Assistant to the Vice President for Administration and Strategic Initiatives, Division of Student Affairs
- Patricia Lowe, Executive Director for Institutional Diversity, Office for Institutional Diversity
- Celeste Wells, Associate Professor of the Practice, Communication Department
University Communications | June 2021