VP to focus on accreditation
In the wake of last year’s rocky reaccreditation process, Rice has hired an associate vice president for institutional effectiveness — a new position — to strengthen the university’s evaluation procedures.
Provost Eugene Levy announced in a Jan. 31 e-mail that John Cornwell, currently the vice provost for institutional effectiveness and assessment at Loyola University in New Orleans, will assume the post March 1.
Levy said Rice hired Cornwell to improve Rice’s reaccreditation process. Every 10 years, accredited institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia are required to submit a report to the Southern Association of Colleges.
SACS examines about 80 criteria for re-accreditation and sends its assessment to the U.S. Department of Education, which decides whether the university is eligible for federal grants.
In November 2005, SACS raised concerns about eight of Rice’s accreditation criteria, including objections about how Rice evaluates itself.
SACS’ Criterion 2.5 stipulates that a school should “engage in ongoing, integrated and institution-wide research-based planning and evaluation processes that incorporate a systemic review of programs and services that (a) results in continuing improvement and (b) demonstrates that the institution is effectively accomplishing its mission.”
Levy said SACS made three recommen-dations about consistency in assessment across departments.
“They weren’t criticisms of our current educational programs,” Levy said. “[SACS] felt that we needed, under the currently developing expectations, to better define our objectives and assess whether we were achieving those objectives.”
Cornwell will bring the number of Rice vice presidents to seven, joining the vice presidents for finance, administration, enrollment, investments and treasurer, public affairs and resource development.
Levy said Cornwell’s task will be to implement the mechanisms to achieve these goals and to stay ahead of the curve.
“The evaluation process is always changing, so we want to try to be prepared for what may come,” Levy said.
On Jan. 17, the Department of Education announced it will explore possible changes to the rules that govern regional accrediting bodies such as SACS.
Cornwell’s duties will include encouraging faculty and staff to understand the value of formal assessment for assessment’s sake, rather than only meeting the minimal requirements for reaccredidation, Levy said.
“A lot of people don’t like [the word ‘assessment’] because they see it as a lot of work without extra value,” Cornwell said. “We need to create opportunities for the community to experience the added value that comes from proper assessment.”
Levy said proper and consistent assessment not only benefits the university when renewing accreditation but also has benefits in terms of self-evaluation.
Though the next assessment process will not occur for another 10 years, Cornwell said he would like to create a foundation for proper assessment so accreditation is a smoother process.
Levy said Cornwell’s interview and hiring process was unique.
“This is a very nascent area,” he said. “There are very few people who have the background and experience — we did a lot of calling around, asking advice, finding people at other institutions who had good reputations in this area.”
Levy said Cornwell stood out because of his academic experience, in addition to his experience in this particular area at Loyola.
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