Johns Hopkins has been continually accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education since 1921 and is required to go through a comprehensive self-study once every eight years as part of the reaccreditation process. The university is starting its next self-study effort this spring in preparation for an accreditation site visit in fall 2023.
The self-study process gives the institution an opportunity to comprehensively examine its education programs, services, and initiatives to determine how well they accomplish the university's goals and contribute to the university's mission. The self-study also asks how well the university meets accreditation standards from MSCHE, a voluntary, nongovernmental, peer-based membership association dedicated to promoting standards of excellence and improvement in higher education.
In 2014, the commission granted JHU's reaccreditation based largely on a glowing peer evaluation team report, which cited Johns Hopkins' excellence in combining research with education, encouraging scholars to collaborate across disciplines, and energizing its community around shared goals.
"The animating commitment to marrying research with education that characterized the founding mission of Johns Hopkins University continues unabated almost 150 years later," wrote the evaluation team in its final report, adding that "... the undergraduate experience draws from this central strength of the institution."
In the coming months, seven working groups, with guidance from two co-chairs and a universitywide Self-Study Steering Committee including faculty, staff, and students with broad institutional knowledge and perspectives, will engage with Hopkins affiliates to source and analyze information that will inform the self-study report. A draft of the self-study report will be shared with the Hopkins community for response and comment in spring 2023 via the JHU MSCHE Self-Study website.
"Engaging in a meaningful and reflective self-study is a demanding effort and we are grateful to the steering committee and working group members for their dedication to this important endeavor," said the co-chairs of the overall process: Douglas Mao, professor and chair of English in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences; and Janet Schreck, senior associate vice provost for academic affairs and accreditation liaison officer.
"We encourage each of you to follow and participate in this opportunity to advance institutional self-understanding and self-improvement and welcome you to follow progress on the website," they added.
JHU community members can also submit feedback via email to SelfStudy@jhu.edu.
Correction: The headline on an earlier version of this article misstated the length of the reaccreditation cycle. The Hub regrets the error.
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