Middle States Commission on Higher Education Accrediting Process
Middle States Commission on Higher Education Accrediting Process
Update on progress, October 2019
During the spring 2019 semester Middle States conducted their site visit at Hofstra University, meeting with campus leaders, administrators, trustees, faculty, staff, and students over the course of their three day evaluation. The team's findings were extremely positive, with their report noting that "…Hofstra is providing an excellent education to its students." Additionally, the team was impressed by the University's leadership and commended our "clear goals and … demonstrated competence in the execution of [our] strategy". Of particular note is the team's assertion that Hofstra's commitment to assessment and evaluation is "extraordinary … prevalent and valued". As a result of all the hard work done by the Steering Committee, standard committees, and the University community at large, Hofstra's accreditation has been reaffirmed until the next visit, which will be scheduled for the 2027-2028 academic year.
Every ten years, the Hofstra community comes together to evaluate and study our processes, offerings and educational environment through our Middle States Reaccreditation process. This is how we evaluate the effectiveness and standards of our institution. [About Accreditation]
We first consider our promise to students as embodied in our mission statement:
“Hofstra University is a private institution whose primary mission is to provide a quality education to its students in an environment that encourages, nurtures, and supports learning through the free and open exchange of ideas, for the betterment of humankind. Hofstra University is fully committed to academic freedom and to the transmission, advancement, and preservation of knowledge for its own academic community and for the community at large. Hofstra University offers undergraduate and graduate programs taught by a research-active and professionally engaged faculty. Academic excellence guides everything the University undertakes.” [Mission Statement]
The Middle States process is a rigorous and lengthy one, which requires the time, expertise and effort of many members of our community, including faculty, students, administrators and staff, trustees and alumni. For those of you who serve on the steering committees and working groups, I thank you for your service and dedication. Our shared efforts are important, since reaccreditation allows us the opportunity to thoughtfully evaluate what we do and improve our academic programs, outcomes and services, to become a better and more excellent institution of higher education, a goal which we all share.
I encourage our entire Hofstra community to be involved, to send suggestions to the committee, attend open forums or read the reports of the groups. Your input will make our process that much stronger. Thank you for your interest.
Stuart Rabinowitz
President
