Ensuring high standards
Even universities get report cards. Every decade or so, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) has its Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (CIHE) review Harvard for reaccreditation. The University was last reaccredited in 2009, and produced an interim report on the results in 2013. The process is an opportunity for the University to take stock of its mission and achievement and develop opportunities for improvement, said Scott Edwards, the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, professor of organismal and evolutionary biology, curator of ornithology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and chair of Harvard’s reaccreditation steering committee. The accreditation process is built around a peer-review approach, and culminates in a visit from an external review committee, which this time will be led by Dartmouth College President Philip Hanlon in October. Edwards’ committee is preparing a report that is produced for the review committee in advance. This self-study is designed...