Fordham University Provost and SVP for Academic Affairs Dennis C. Jacobs will head BC reaccreditation team

The NECHE delegation—which will include educators and administrators from peer institutions—will visit the campus March 14-17, 2027, following completion of the University’s self-study in January of that year. The visiting team will review the self-study, speak with members of the BC community, and examine supporting documents before issuing a report. Both the self-study and the visiting committee report will be integral to the decision on BC’s accreditation status. Good standing in a regional accreditation association is a requirement for participation in federal programs that support higher education.

“It’s hard to believe almost 10 years have passed since Donna Shalala led the 2017 NECHE visiting team to campus,” said Robert L. and Judith T. Winston Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley.  “Drafting our self-study provides a valuable opportunity to take stock of the various significant developments on campus over the past decade, and next spring’s visit will bring leaders from peer universities to campus.  I look forward to this moment of institutional reflection and discernment.”

Jacobs, whose career in Catholic education spans almost four decades, will serve as the primary bridge/liaison between NECHE, the visiting team, and University President-designate John T. “Jack” Butler, S.J., who will succeed current President William P. Leahy, S.J., this summer.

In addition to drafting the visiting team’s report, which is the official peer-review document used by NECHE to make the final accreditation decision, Jacobs will deliver an oral report to Fr. Butler on the final day of the visit, which outlines the team’s preliminary findings and major recommendations.

Preparation for the self-study have been underway since last fall, led by a committee which includes Associate Vice Provost for Assessment and Accreditation Jessica Greene; Vice President for Institutional Research and Planning Mara Hermano; Special Assistant to the Executive Vice President Carrie Klemovitch; Special Assistant to the President Peter G. Martin, and University Libraries Associate Director for Academic Programs and Special Projects Seth Meehan.

The committee is working directly with stakeholders, as well as an advisory group representing each of BC’s schools and vice-presidential divisions, such as Facilities Management, Human Resources, and University Mission and Ministry.

Prior to joining Fordham in 2019, Jacobs was provost and vice president for academic affairs at Santa Clara University from 2011 to 2019. From 2004 to 2011, he served as the University of Notre Dame’s vice president and associate provost for undergraduate studies and international studies. From 2004 to 2011, he was vice president and associate provost for undergraduate studies and international studies at Notre Dame, where as a chemistry professor from 1988 to 2011, he taught thousands of undergraduate and graduate students, with much of his laboratory research study focused on reactions relevant to semiconductor processing in the microelectronics industry.

Jacobs, who will retire from Fordham at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year, was named United States Professor of the Year for Doctoral and Research Universities by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 2002. He earned bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and physics from the University of California at Irvine in 1982 and a doctorate in chemistry from Stanford University in 1988.