SACS, NCAA COMMITREES TO VISIT CAMPUS THIS MONTH
Members of the Reaffirmation of Accreditation Visiting Committee from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges, will be on campus Feb. 26-27 to talk with faculty and administrators as part of its decennial information gathering process.
Once the 17-member committee names the individuals it wishes to interview, they will be notified as soon as possible, said John P. Broderick, acting associate vice president for academic affairs. "I hope to be able to contact them a week or two in advance," he noted.
In the meantime, Acting Provost David R. Hager asks that faculty and administrators keep those dates open in the event they are selected for an interview. "We want to be as prepared and as helpful as we can be," he said. He added that faculty and administrators could start by gathering documents and publications they think the committee might be interested in seeing.
Committee members have already read Old Dominion's Self-Study Report and will ask questions based on this document and the SACS/COC Criteria for Accreditation during their interviews. Faculty and administrators selected for an interview should be familiar with the sections of the report that relate most closely to their areas, Hager and Broderick said.
The Self Study Report is available online http://web.odu.edu/al/sacs/oduselfstudy.html. Printed copies are available at the reference desk of Perry Library, deans' offices, academic department offices, and at the higher education center directors' offices.
The SACS/COC Visiting Committee will deliver an oral "exit report" at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, in the Hampton/Newport News Room of Webb Center. This session is open to the campus community.
Old Dominion will receive a formal written report on the visiting committee's findings by the end of April. A response will be filed during the summer, and the announcement concerning reaffirmation of accreditation for the next 10 years will be made at the SACS/COC Convention in December.
At the same time the SACS/COC representatives are on campus, a six-member committee representing the NCAA Division I will be here to gather information about the university's athletic program in order to make a recommendation about its continuing certification.
The group will look at four areas, according to Mikki Baile, senior associate athletic director: academic integrity; governance and commitment to rules compliance; student-athlete welfare and equity and sportsmanship issues; and fiscal integrity.
Like the SACS/COC review, the NCAA review occurs every 10 years among member institutions. Following the committee's visit, an announcement about recertification of the program would come in about 10 months, Baile said.
The following is a list of SACS/COC Visiting Committee members and the areas they will cover during the interviews:
-Charles Ray Nash (chair), vice chancellor for academic affairs, University of Alabama System: Principles and Philosophy of Accreditation.
-Theodore K. Miller, professor emeritus, School of Professional Studies, University of Georgia: Institutional Purpose and Effectiveness.
-Caryl A. Yzenbaard, professor of law, Northern Kentucky University: Educational Program - Coordinator.
-Suzanne M. Bean, professor of education and coordinator of graduate programs, Mississippi University for Women: Educational Program - Education.
-James (Drew) A. Clark, director of assessment, Auburn University: Educational Program - Humanities/Fine Arts.
-Carla L. Relaford, director of distance and distributed learning, Georgia State University: Educational Program -Continuing Education/Distance Learning.
-Stephen W. Harmon, associate professor and director of educational technology, Georgia State University: Educational Program - Continuing Education/Distance Learning.
-Suzzette F. Chopin, professor of biology, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi: Educational Program - Natural/Physical Science.
-Thomas C. Robinson, dean of the College of Allied Health Professions, University of Kentucky: Educational Program - Allied Health.
-Darrell F. Parker, professor of economics, Georgia Southern University: Educational Program - Business.
-William D. Lawson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Tennessee State University: Educational Program- Social/Behavioral Sciences.
-James Allen Anderson, dean of the School of Engineering Technology and Sciences, South Carolina State University: Educational Program - Engineering.
-Coy L. Harmon, dean of libraries, Murray State University: Library.
-Dan Seymour, vice president for student affairs and assistant professor, Northwestern State University: Student Development Services.
-James A. Hefner, president, Tennessee State University: Organization and Administration.
-John L. Stegall, vice president for business and finance, Armstrong Atlantic State University: Financial/Physical Resources.
The committee member responsible for Educational Program - Math/Computer Science has yet to be named.
Members of the NCAA Visiting Committee are:
-Donald R. Gerth, president, California State University, Sacramento.
-Henry Brooks, director of cooperative extension, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore.
-Lori Flanagan, senior associate athletic director, Saint Louis University.
-Tracey Flynn, associate director of athletics for compliance/student services, Quinnipiac University.
-Michael Moore, director of athletics, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis.
-Denise O'Grady, NCAA staff liaison.