Mississippi State University will be moving into the final stages of a self-study process for reaffirmation of accreditation with a campus visit by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools April 6-9.
The commission on Colleges of the SACS will visit MSU as the regional accrediting body for 11 Southeastern states, including Mississippi.
Leslie E. Bauman, physics professor, launched the self-study for MSU in 2000. With the self-study, 13 campus committees and more than 200 committee members have participated in the self-study. The committees examine all aspects of university relations, which were presented in a 300-page document.
The SACS self-study evaluates institutions of higher learning according to a designed criterion every 10 years.
“SACS first accredited MSU in 1926,” the MSU self-study Web site states.
“The purpose of the self-study is to evaluate the mission of the university and its effectiveness on fulfilling it. The study will consist of a comprehensive and objective analysis of institutional strengths and weaknesses with recommendations for on-going improvement,” the MSU self-study Web site states.
“A committee of our peers of other higher learning institutions of the South east will assess the strengths and weaknesses,” Bauman said, explaining what SAC does.
According to Bauman, the SACS members can and will ask to speak with a variety of people at their discretion to examine Mississippi State University’s criteria.
The office of self-study will make all arrangements to host the SACS committee in the president’s name.
The university has shipped documents to the SACS as an examination of the university.
The SACS will begin interviews for two days with a small subset going to the MSU Meridian campus. The SACS will write a report stating the strengths and weaknesses, along with recommendations for Mississippi State University.
A formal written response from MSU to the SACS will be sent with an explanation of how the university will rectify any weaknesses that do not hold up to the SACS standards, Bauman explained A follow-up report will be presented at a later date. The later report must be the SACS’s satisfaction.
If a university does not satisfy the SACS review three times in five years then that university will be put on probation.