UB receives Middle States reaccreditation

UB has been reaccredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, an affirmation that the university is well on its way to becoming one of the world’s pre-eminent research institutions.

In an email to the university community yesterday, President Satish K. Tripathi said that Middle States formally reaffirmed UB’s decennial reaccreditation on June 26.

“The accreditation process is an important way to measure our advancement as we continually work to enhance educational excellence and achieve our strategic objectives,” Tripathi said. “The process of accreditation is not a one-time event that occurs every 10 years. This is an ongoing institutional process, and one which confirms our university is on course to realize the ambitious goals we have articulated through the UB 2020 vision.”

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is the unit of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools that accredits degree-granting colleges and universities in the Middle States region. Accreditation is crucial, UB administrators say, because it provides affirmation that institutions are meeting basic academic standards.

As part of the multi-year, institution-wide process to achieve reaccreditation, UB conducted a self-study report in which it outlined its institutional goals and the progress it’s made in reaching these goals under the UB 2020 strategic plan. The key component of the reaccreditation process, the self-study is the result of more than two years of investigating, analyzing and assessing multiple aspects of the university by the steering committee and numerous subcommittees composed of UB faculty, staff and students. It frames the university’s goals and the progress made toward those goals within the context of the 14 standards of excellence that the commission expects of institutions of higher education.

The report specifically addresses the university's institutional resources, institutional planning process, administrative and leadership effectiveness, admissions process, student support services, educational programming and assessment of student learning.

The reaccreditation process also included a visit by a team of evaluators that met with members of the university community, including Tripathi, Provost Charles F. Zukoski, members of UB's Middle States Leadership Team and Steering Committee, senior administrators, deans, faculty, staff and students to gather information on how well UB is meeting its institutional goals.

As Middle States has confirmed, “UB is making sustained and remarkable progress as one of the world’s great research universities,” Tripathi said. “This progress hinges on the excellence of every member of our university community, and I want to thank each of you for all you contribute as we build even further on this success in the years to come.”