The Middle States Self-Study Bulletin – April, 2018
Welcome to our Middle States Bulletin. Twice a semester your Middle States Self-Study Co-chairs, Dr. Mara Zukowski and Dr. Kaye Walter, will update you on the progress of Felician University’s Self-Study process.
The Spring 2018 Semester marked the start of our Middle States Commission on Higher Education Accreditation Self-Study process. The purpose of the Self-Study process is to demonstrate that Felician University is in compliance with the Commission’s standards and requirements for accreditation. The process will also provide the Felician community the opportunity to analyze our institutional processes through the lens of our mission so that we can continuously improve our services to our students and our community.
The first step of the process was to complete a Self-Study design. The Self-Study design is a template developed to guide the Self Study process. The design phase assisted us in highlighting key areas of importance, the process we will be using for the Self-Study, and the organization of the Final Self-Study Report. The Self-Study design was submitted to Middle States in late February 2018. Dr. Christy Faison from Middle States visited Felician University on February 31, 2018. During her visit she presented an overview of the Self-Study process to the Felician community and reviewed with us our Self-Study design. The Self-Study design was formally approved by Dr. Christy Faison on March 12, 2018.
Now begins the hard work of completing the research and analysis for our Self-Study. The following seven working groups, along with the Self-Study Steering Committee and Executive Committee of the Self-Study process, will be leading the research and analysis phase of the process.
Standard 1: Mission and Goals
Co-Chairs: Dr. Sylvia McGeary and Priscilla Klymenko
Work Group Members: Dr. Ann Guillory, Sharon McNulty, Dr. Fr. John O’Neill, Barbara Perdue, Kathy Prieto, Dr. Patrick Weir
Standard 2: Ethics and Integrity
Co-Chairs: Dr. Marie Cueman, Cynthia Montalvo
Work Group Members: Dr. Sister Annelle Velivis, Jimena Buitrago, Dr. Tara Brugnoni, Jean Conlon-Yoo, Diane De Padova, Dr. Irfan Khawaja, Barbara Romano
Standard 3: Design and Delivery of Student Learning Experience
Co-Chairs: Dr. Christine Mihal, Dr. David Turi
Work Group Members: Camille Braker-Balkum, Kimberly Burrows, Dr. Manuel Ferreira, Dr. Julie O’Connell, Yaruby Petit-Frere, Annette Rycharski, Deanna Valente
Standard 4: Support of the Student Experience
Co-Chairs: Dr. Ronald Gray, Dr. Dolores Henchy
Work Group Members: Erica Anderson, Ben Dinallo, Steve Goetsch, Melissa MacAlpin, Patty McTaggart, Sister Elizabeth Morley, Shalini Patel, Diane Sedlmeir
Standard 5: Educational Effectiveness Assessment
Co-Chairs: Dr. Jeffrey Blanchard, Dr. Stephanie McGowan
Work Group Members: Tiffany Austin, Patrick Dezort, Mary Laban, Michael Nyklewicz, Dr. Patricia O’Brien-Barry, Dr. Robert Rogers, Michael Szarek
Standard 6: Planning, Resources, and Institutional Improvement
Co-Chairs: Fran Andrea, Tom Truchan
Work Group Members: Clevell S. Roseboro II, David Santos, Dr. Anthony Scardino, Andrew Toriello
Standard 7: Governance, Leadership, and Administration
Co-Chairs: Dr. John Farkas, Joseph Lizza
Work Group Members: Dr. Kristen Abbey, Ginny Topolski
To prepare to begin their work, the working groups attended an orientation and training session on March 14, 2018. We would like to take this opportunity to thank members of the working groups, Steering Committee, Executive Team, and all others who have made time to participate in the process so far. Their enthusiasm for this very exciting self-reflection process is contagious!
The University will also conduct Town Hall meeting sessions between October 2018 and December 2018 to provide the University community the opportunity to learn more about the process and to share input on each of the seven standards. We hope all members of the community will engage with the working groups and Town Hall meetings and be a part of this very important effort to improve Felician University and to highlight our areas of excellence. Dr. Ronald Gray and Dr. Jim Smith will provide leadership for the Town Hall meetings A list of dates, times, and locations for the Town Hall meetings will be sent out at the beginning of the Fall 2018 Semester.
Spotlight on the Work Groups
The Middle States Work Groups have begun their work. Each group is charged with reviewing data that is relevant to each of the seven standards, analyzing the data, and making recommendations on how the University can use the data to improve our work with and services to Felician students.
Did You Know……
If you think the parking lot flood on April 16 was bad, you should have been here in September 1999 when Hurricane Floyd hit Felician!
In September of 1999 Hurricane Floyd hit Felician. The Library and Obal Hall had up to eight feet of water in their lower levels. Many library books were lost as well as the contents of Fr. O’Neill’s office and of many other offices. In fact, there were sightings of large fish swimming through the lower level corridor of Obal Hall.
Coming Events
April 30, 2018 – Middle States Self-Study Get Acquainted Day for Students on the Rutherford Campus in front of the library and the Lodi Campus Cafeteria from 1-2 p.m. Stop by our tables and visit!
If you have questions regarding the Middle States Self-Study process, please don’t hesitate to contact your co-chairs, Dr. Mara Zukowski and Dr. Kaye Walter, or our Liaison to Middle States, Dr. Ed Ogle.
The Middle States Self-Study Bulletin – October, 2018
Welcome to our second Middle States Bulletin! As you all know, last semester we embarked upon our Middle States Commission on Higher Education Accreditation Self-Study process. While its primary purpose is to demonstrate that Felician University is in compliance with the Commission’s standards and requirements for accreditation, it also provides us with an opportunity to analyze our institutional processes through the lens of our mission. This will help us to continue to improve our services to our students and our community.
We are pleased to report that we now have a Middle States web page with a link on the My Felician web page. By clicking on the Middle States Self-Study Process link you will have access to all of the Middle States resources, the information sources being used by the working groups, and the completed documents generated by each group.
As of June 15, 2018 all seven working groups have submitted their preliminary outlines and are hard at work composing their drafts of their assigned sections. We are in the process of inviting students to join the working groups. Those accepting will attend a luncheon at the castle on October 17 where they will meet the co-chairs of their committees. We are certain that student input will be a great asset to the committees and will provide a valuable perspective for their work.
Our first Town Hall meeting is scheduled for the staff on Monday, October 22 in the Lecture Hall. The moderators will be Kathy Prieto and Nicollette Matesic. Department heads are asked to allow as many of their staff members as possible to attend this Town Hall meeting. It will be an open forum to disseminate information about the process and to answer any questions the staff may have about the accrediting team’s visit in the Spring of 2020.
Just a reminder: the self-study needs input from the entire Felician community. Please feel free to contact the co-chairs of the working groups to contribute your thoughts and observations:
Standard 1: Mission and Goals
Co-Chairs: Dr. Sylvia McGeary and Dr. Patrick Weir
Standard 2: Ethics and Integrity
Co-Chairs: Dr. Marie Cueman, Ms. Cynthia Montalvo
Standard 3: Design and Delivery of Student Learning Experience
Co-Chairs: Dr. Christine Mihal, Dr. David Turi
Standard 4: Support of the Student Experience
Co-Chairs: Dr. Ronald Gray, Dr. Dolores Henchy
Standard 5: Educational Effectiveness Assessment
Co-Chairs: Dr. Jeffrey Blanchard, Dr. Patricia O’Brien-Barry
Standard 6: Planning, Resources, and Institutional Improvement
Co-Chairs: Ms. Fran Andrea, Mr. Tom Truchan
Standard 7: Governance, Leadership, and Administration
Co-Chairs: Dr. John Farkas, Mr. Joseph Lizza
Iviswold Castle (the castle on our Rutherford campus) was built in 1869 by NY newspaperman and land developer Floyd W. Tomkins and called “Hill House.” The second owner, David Brinkerhoff Ivison, (president of the American Book Company), had an architect redesign the castle in the style of the Chateau de Chaumont situated in the Loire Valley in France. He named it “Iviswold.”
When Felician bought the property, we undertook a massive project to restore the castle to its original appearance. When drop ceilings and false walls were torn down ornate walnut woodwork, Tiffany windows with portraits of swans and poets, Florentine cherubs and Italian marble fireplaces were discovered. It truly was a treasure trove! In fact, it has been included on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places.
One of the most interesting details of the castle was a swimming pool on the second floor (over the drive through arch). That would have been very inviting on some of those hot days we had in August!
If you have questions regarding the Middle States Self-Study process, please don’t hesitate to contact your co-chairs, Dr. Mara Zukowski and Dr. Kaye Walter, or our Liaison to Middle States, Dr. Sylvia McGeary.
