Earlier this week, members of the Virginia Wesleyan University community
traveled to Dallas, Texas, to attend the annual meeting of our
accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). I attended the Presidents’ Agenda Day
on Monday, and Dr. Marty Smith Sharpe, Accreditation Consultant for the
University, and Sue Erickson, Director of Hofheimer Library,
participated in three days of meetings organized under the theme
“Students Are the HEART of Education.”
The meeting addressed
various higher education accreditation practices and offered much
topical discussion on the development and implementation of activities
that enhance teaching and learning and support administrative
operations. Dynamic speakers, peer-led sessions, engaging exhibitors,
and numerous networking opportunities were also highlights of the
conference.
The Presidents' Agenda Day, moderated by Dr. Belle
Wheelan, President of SACSCOC, included a timely discussion of trends
and issues in accreditation nationwide followed by a presentation by
Robert Shibley, Executive Director of the Foundation for Individual
Rights in Education. His presentation was followed by a detailed
presidential panel discussion on free speech on college campuses led by
Virginia colleagues Teresa Sullivan (University of Virginia) and
Jonathan Alger (James Madison University).
During the meeting,
Marty Sharpe presented as part of “Compliance Certification Bootcamp:
Concrete Strategies for Success,” and Sue Erickson shared Hofheimer
Library’s efforts to promote the University’s intellectual property
policy in “Tapping Creativity and Collaboration to Promote Polices to
Students.”
I had the opportunity to visit with Virginia Wesleyan
University Trustee Linda Thomas-Glover and congratulate her on her
recent appointment as Vice President of SACSCOC (view photo).
Linda will retire from Virginia higher education in January and start
her new assignment at the Decatur, Georgia-based accrediting
organization in February. It was also wonderful to visit with Virginia
Wesleyan graduates and friends at a special Dallas-area alumni gathering
hosted by alumnus Mike Rawls '91 (view photos).
Overall,
the meeting served as a wonderful reminder to me of our exemplary
status and standing with SACSCOC. The review of the visiting team in
2015, resulting in outstanding findings of the honoring of our mission
and commitment to academic distinction and student success, followed by
the granting of our 10-year reaffirmation without recommendations in
2016, and the approval of Level III status in 2017, all have propelled
our innovation and progress as a leading liberal arts institution.
Special
thanks to each of you, our broader Virginia Wesleyan community, for
your daily work on behalf of this outstanding University and our
students. You make a difference!
