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University reaccreditation

SACS off-site review favorable for MUSC 

by Cindy Abole
Public Relations
This is the 11th feature in an ongoing series of articles keeping the MUSC family fully informed about progress toward successful reaffirmation of the university’s accreditation by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)—a review process which occurs every 10 years.
 
The last article highlighted the Sept. 8 submission of MUSC’s response as well as the presentation of a MUSC Web page which focused on supporting documentation. This was the only source of information for consideration and action by the SACS Off-Site Review Team.
 
Following Thanksgiving, MUSC President Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., received results of the university’s Reaffirmation Draft Report by the SACS Off-Site Review Team. Of the 79 requirements responded to and documented by MUSC, only five required additional clarification (noted in the report as “evidence of non-compliance”). And, of these, two were expected to become compliant upon receipt of a copy of the new MUSC Annual Financial Report that was not available when the information was originally submitted in September. The university Reaffirmation Oversight Committee immediately began working closely with the SACS Steering Committee on the focused report, which responds fully to each non-compliant requirement and is due six weeks prior to the March 27 to 29 On-Site Review Team’s visit to MUSC.
 
This is a great start to the multiple step process culminating in a final decision regarding reaffirmation at the SACS annual meeting in December 2007.  To be cited for only five non-compliance issues by the Off-Site Review Team is good news. SACS has reported that the typical number is between eight and 15, with an institution occasionally receiving 20 or more non-compliance citations.
 
The Off-Site Review Team met Nov. 6 to 7 in Atlanta. Its members represented nine SACS institutions, five of which were academic health centers. Two additional members of the Off-Site Review Team were members of the SACS Council on Colleges Executive Administration.
 
Their review identified the following items as requiring additional clarification:
2.7.4 Contractual Agreements for Instruction—Needed was additional information and documentation relative to three undergraduate programs in which student’s complete general educational requirements at other institutions.
2.11 Financial Stability—While prior information documented stability, the most recent fiscal year financial figures needed to be added.
3.4.1 Educational Programs Approval/Evaluation—The curriculum management documentation was appropriate, but additional evaluation outcome data samples are required.
3.10.3Audit of Financial Aid Programs—Needed are the most recent fiscal year financial figures.
3.10.4 Control Over Financial/Physical Resources—Needed are the updated fiscal reports and additional evidence with respect to policies, procedures, and administering of annual physical property/equipment inventories as well as risk management operations.
 
“Many people throughout the University were essential to this success,” Greenberg said. He made special mention of the Steering Committee members, including Catherine Watt who was on loan from Clemson, for their diligence in pulling together the various committee drafts into a final unified edit, and then surmounting the challenge of translating it into digital form on a user friendly Web page [http://www.musc.edu/sacs] for each member of the Off-Site Review Team.
 
The Steering Committee members are: J. Walker Coleman, assistant to the president for operations; James E. Gilbert, Ph.D., special assistant to the provost; Robin R. Hanckel, administrator coordinator; VPAA; Thomas B. Higerd, Ph.D., chair, associate provost; Carol J. Lancaster, Ph.D. assistant provost; Mary P. Mauldin, Ed.D., director, Center for Academic Research and Computing; David M. Ward, Ph.D. associate dean, College of Health Professions; and Catherine E. Watt, director, Alliance for Research in Higher Education, Strom Thurmond Institute, Clemson University.
 
Work is now under way to finalize the Quality Enhancement Plan which must be part of the information provided the On-Site Review Team for final appraisal. Amy Blue, Ph.D., associate dean for curriculum and evaluation, College of Medicine, has taken on leadership of this essential component which will be featured in the next article in this series regarding MUSC’s accreditation. The steering committee is diligently preparing for the next SACS challenge, the On-Site Review Team visit in late March.
   

Friday, Jan. 12, 2007
Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.