Brookdale President David Stout’s expectations of Brookdale to be receive full re-accreditation from Middle States took a giant step forward April. 3.

In June 2018, after a lengthy process of self-study and report writing, Brookdale learned the Middle States Commission on Higher Education declared the college at warning status.

The Middle States Commission consists of peer colleges and commissioners who gather to visit colleges around the Mid-Atlantic region and send reports to the commission.

According to a summary report Stout sent to employees last Wednesday, “follow-up evaluators of the Middle States presented their findings to the College-committee … and the visiting team will be recommending that we have satisfied all standards to the Middle States Commission’s Committee on Follow-up Activities.”

The chair of the visiting team provided commendations as well as suggestions and recommendations to further improve Brookdale.

Stout’s summary states that commendations included “the significant progress made by the Board of Trustees and senior leadership on ethics and integrity, the stability brought to the institution through hiring a permanent president, and indicators that a culture of assessment is emerging.”

The suggestions made by the chair included “increasing transparency in decision making through Collegial governance, increasing professional development to promote assessment, and a full utilization of the Assessment Fellows”.

The chair gave recommendations to increase “diversity on the Board of Trustees and among our employees to better reflect the student body,” invest in an “improved system for tracking assessment data,” expand “the sharing of assessment data and outcomes” and schedule “opportunities for cross-collaboration on assessment project.”

By April 10, the college will receive the evaluators’ written report and has one week to correct any factual errors. On May 28, the Middle States Commission’s Committee on Follow-up Activities will meet to “consider the evaluation team’s recommendation and make their recommendation to the full Middle States Commission on Higher Education.”

The College will receive an official notification regarding their accreditation from Middle States after the commission meets June 26 and 27.

“We are grateful to the visiting team for its work as part of the ongoing accreditation process,” Stout said. He also thanked all of those who were involved and participated in the process.