2008 Woodie Awards
University reaccredited by NEASC
Bridgette Blight
Issue date: 4/3/08 Section: News
04/03/08 - After approximately a month of waiting, the University of Rhode Island received notice yesterday that it is reaccredited for the next 10 years through the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
Former provost M. Beverly Swan, who oversaw the two-year-long accreditation process, was excited when she learned the news.
"NEASC did a good job of praising students and faculty," Swan said. "They pointed out issues we needed to work on … they keep us on our toes."
Before releasing its decision, the NEASC visiting committee released a 41-page report that outlined the positive and negative aspects of URI. The main issues were faculty salaries, the student to faculty ratio and course evaluation.
The committee had some concern about pay for faculty and graduate assistants, claiming that their salaries are lower than those at peer institutions. URI's location is a draw for prospective faculty. However, the cost of housing in South County can be prohibitive.
"Housing costs are tumbling, but they are tumbling slower [in South County]," Swan said.
Swan also agreed that some sectors of faculty salaries are competitive, such as those in the College of Business.
Academic programs were received quite positively in terms of merit. However, class size, assessment of courses, and graduate admissions were areas of concern. The report said that plans to increase enrollment at URI must also include plans to hire more faculty. Swan said that nine new faculty lines were approved for fall 2008, but she is not sure how many of the searches that have started this year will continue.
In a response letter to NEASC, Carothers said, "new SET [student evaluations of teaching] forms will be piloted this spring semester 2008."
Swan said that she was not sure if the forms would actually be used this semester because of objections from faculty senators.
"The SET forms have been the same for 25 years or something like that," Swan said. "We needed to take a fresh look at them."
Former provost M. Beverly Swan, who oversaw the two-year-long accreditation process, was excited when she learned the news.
"NEASC did a good job of praising students and faculty," Swan said. "They pointed out issues we needed to work on … they keep us on our toes."
Before releasing its decision, the NEASC visiting committee released a 41-page report that outlined the positive and negative aspects of URI. The main issues were faculty salaries, the student to faculty ratio and course evaluation.
The committee had some concern about pay for faculty and graduate assistants, claiming that their salaries are lower than those at peer institutions. URI's location is a draw for prospective faculty. However, the cost of housing in South County can be prohibitive.
"Housing costs are tumbling, but they are tumbling slower [in South County]," Swan said.
Swan also agreed that some sectors of faculty salaries are competitive, such as those in the College of Business.
Academic programs were received quite positively in terms of merit. However, class size, assessment of courses, and graduate admissions were areas of concern. The report said that plans to increase enrollment at URI must also include plans to hire more faculty. Swan said that nine new faculty lines were approved for fall 2008, but she is not sure how many of the searches that have started this year will continue.
In a response letter to NEASC, Carothers said, "new SET [student evaluations of teaching] forms will be piloted this spring semester 2008."
Swan said that she was not sure if the forms would actually be used this semester because of objections from faculty senators.
"The SET forms have been the same for 25 years or something like that," Swan said. "We needed to take a fresh look at them."