What is NEASC?
NEASC strives to establish and maintain high standards for all levels of education, from pre-K to the doctoral level. It serves some 1,866 public and independent schools, colleges and universities in the six New England states and 114 American/International schools around the globe.
NEASC Self-Study Files
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NEASC Self-Study
Roger Williams University is in the final phase of a two year process of self-study for our ten year re-accreditation visit by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) the governing body whose approval allows us to award degrees and participate in federal programs that support the university and its students.
Part of the re-accreditation is a Self-Study, with supporting documents, that examines every area of the institution. A visiting team will come to RWU in late October of 2006.
The team will use the self-study as a basis to determine the effectiveness of the school compared to national norms. NEASC recognizes that each institution is unique and is also careful to evaluate each institution in terms of its own self defined mission.
The self study is divided into eleven Standards each covering an area of the institution: mission, planning, faculty, student, facilities, finances etc. The research, analysis, and writing of each standard are being carried out by a Task Force overseen by a Steering Committee.
The self-study process is intended to be open and transparent. One hundred members of faculty, administration, and staff have been working on various aspects of this process for the past two years. The resulting document represents a cross section of expertise and experience from across the university. A group of task forces, each with two co-chairman undertook the research and writing of the NEASC standard under the direction of the Steering Committee.
The NEASC Steering Committee
Jeffrey Martin, Associate Provost (Chair)
Tracy DaCosta, Associate Dean Enrollment Management
Peter Deekle, Dean of University Library Services
Roseann Evans, Professor of Architecture
Kathleen McMahon, Dean of Students
Richard Potter, Professor of History, Chair, Faculty Senate
Maling Ebrahimpour, Dean, Gabelli School of Business
Peter Wilbur, Associate Vice President for Planning and Administration
NEASC Task Forces
Standard 1: Mission and Purpose
Standard 2: Planning and Evaluation
Stephen White, Dean, School of Architecture, Art and Historic Preservation, Co-Chair
Nancy Nester, Associate Professor of Writing Studies, Co-Chair
Mark Brickley, Professor of Computer Information Systems
Christine Fagan, Collection Development, Acquisitions Librarian
K.C. Ferrara, Service Learning Coordinator
Ram Gupta, Professor of Engineering
Katherine Hall, Assistant Professor of Writing Studies
John Madritch, Assistant Professor of Writing Studies
Stephanie Manzi, Interim Dean, School of Justice Studies
Standard 3: Organization and Governance
Jeffrey Gillooly, Senior Director of Government & International Relations, Co-Chair
Susan Bosco, Associate Professor of Management, Co-Chair
Alan Canestrari, Associate Professor of Education
John Lindsay, Associate Director of Student Programs & Leadership
David Melchar, Professor of Management
Kenneth Osborne, Dean, Instructional Technology & Special Projects
Jackie Pham, Manager of Training & Development
Daniel VonRiesen, Professor of Chemistry
Michael Yelnosky, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs
Standard 4: Programs and Instruction
Ruth Koelle, Dean, Feinstein College of Arts & Sciences, Co-Chair
Dianne Comiskey, Professor of Creative Writing, Co-Chair
Dorisa Boggs, Professor of Theatre
Jennifer Campbell, Assistant Professor of Writing
Kathleen Dunn, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice
Rachel McCormack, Associate Professor of Education
Chris Menton, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice
Roxanne O'Connell, Assistant Professor of Visual Communications
Teal Rothschild, Associate Professor of Sociology
Tom Sorger, Associate Professor of Biology
Rene Soto, Assistant Professor of Creative Writing
Matt Stein, Associate Professor of Engineering
John Stout, Dean, School of Continuing Studies
Anne Tait, Assistant Professor of Art
Kurt Torell, Assistant Dean for Art & Humanities
Okan Ustunkok, Associate Dean, Professor of Architecture & Historic Preservation
Doug White, Associate Professor of Computer Information
Donald Whitworth, Professor of Psychology
Standard 5: Faculty
Susan Pasquarelli, Professor of Education, Co-Chair
Robert Potter, Dean, School of Engineering, Computing & Construction Management, Co-Chair
Glenna Andrade, Assistant Professor of Writing
Nermin Kura, Associate Professor of Art and Architectural History
Marcie Marston, Professor of Biology
Jenny Tsankova, Assistant Professor of Education
Laura Turner, Associate Professor of Psychology
Mary Wu, Cataloging/Database Management Librarian
Standard 6: Student Services
Lynn Fawthrop, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Retention, Co-Chair
Jeffrey Meriwether, Assistant Professor of History, Co-Chair
Ben Carr, Professor of Marketing
Allison Chase-Padula, Associate Dean of Student Affairs/Senior Director Special Events and Conferences
Laura Choinere, Director of the Center for Academic Development
Robert Dermody, Assistant Professor of Architecture
Chris O'Brien, Retention Coordinator
Jason Pina, Associate Dean of Students/Director of International and Multicultural Student Affairs
Standard 7: Library and Information Resources
Elizabeth Learned, Associate Dean of University Library Services, Co-Chair
June Speakman, Associate Professor of Political Science, Co-Chair
Will Ayton, Professor of Music
Bonnie Hatch, Instructional Technologist
W. Brett McKenzie, Associate Professor of Computer Information Systems
Susan McMullen, Professor of Information Resources/Reference Librarian
Joe Pangborn, Vice President & Chief Information Officer
Madge Thombs, Associate Professor of Education
Standard 8: Physical Resources
Standard 9: Financial Resources
John King, Vice President for Student Affairs, Co-Chair
Ellen Almeida, Accounting Manager
Dick Goulet, Director of Facilities Management
Frank McGovern, Associate Director for Health & Environmental Safety
William McQueen, Professor of Architecture
Anthony Montefusco, Director of Housing
Joe Pangborn, Vice President & Chief Information Officer
Lynn Ruggieri, Assistant Professor of Accounting
John Schlinke, Architecture/Art Librarian
Standard 10: Public Disclosure
Standard 11: Integrity
Mirlen Martinez, Esq., Assistant General Counsel, Co-Chair
Anjali Ram, Associate Professor of Communications, Co-Chair
Maha Bashri, Assistant Professor of Communications
Melissa DeCosta, Director of Admissions Operations
Heidi Hartzell, Director of Student Conduct & Community Standards
Rebecca Riopel, Assistant Director of Campus Programs
Mel Topf, Professor of Writing Studies
The Self Study
The document that has been posted to our website represents the final form of each standard of the self-study. The full self-study provides a narrative with each standard broken into three parts:
- Description of how we function as it pertains to that standard.
- Appraisal of our strengths and weaknesses.
- Projection of our plans for the future, particularly as they address our weaknesses.
The final printed Self-Study also includes, an appendix with documents, and makes reference to numerous documents that have been collected and will be available to the visiting team in a work room set up for them. Many of the documents are also available to them electronically.
It is important to note that NEASC does not expect an institution to be perfect or completely effective in all regards. It does expect an institution to be objective and clear sighted about its strengths and weaknesses and to have a clear plan to address its problems. Nor does it expect institutions to conform to one norm. It recognizes the value of each school's uniqueness and looks to the schools own self definition of mission and goals for guidance.
The Self-Study has been drafted by each Task Force and that draft as been evaluated by the Steering Committee working closely with the Task Force Chairs. Comments and suggestions were then incorporated by the Task Force Chairs into a second draft which was posted to this website for public comment.
We are now posting the finished self-study for your comment.
We welcome all comments. You may contribute to our process by emailing your comments to:
NEASC@rwu.edu
Thank you for your support and contribution to this important project.