On Wednesday, April 22, 2026, President Kent Devereaux opened the town hall. Recently, his contract was renewed with Goucher in light of his accomplishments as our president. He shared this valor as a team recognition, highlighting the success of our campus, and emphasizing his wishes to not lose sight of our accomplishments.
Goucher’s reaccreditation, a process that renews every eight years, is falling on a crucial year. This year is the closing of the strategic plan: ‘Goucher Forward.’ ‘Goucher Forward’ was a set of goals set to advance enrollment, student success and financial sustainability. Now coming to a close, and simultaneously, Goucher’s self evaluation for reaccreditation is due. The self-evaluation is how reaccreditation is initially evaluated.
After President Devereaux’s sentiments, Jamie Mulaney, Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, introduced Reha Shackelford, our VP from Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). MSCHE is Goucher’s partner for the accreditation process. Shackelford, as VP, is our support system through the Middle States organization. Her role is to educate on the accreditation, provide advice and assist in the overall process.
Shackelford opened her speech by recognizing Goucher’s hospitality and remarking the care of students and faculty. She called the attendance to the town hall a “…testament to your commitment to your campus community.” The crowd, some seated in the forum, some whose heads poked in from every level of the Athenaeum, included staff, students and faculty from several departments: from chemistry professors to the office of global education.
The purpose of accreditation for a university is to: “mak[e] it worthy of public confidence, and minimiz[e] the scope of external control”. The process evaluates based on seven principles and is built on a self-evaluation model, where the college reflects and their resulting proposal is voted on. The voting power for accreditation is a committee of 27 members from a variety of higher education institutions or private institutions. There are several other steps, but this is the general outline. Outside of the eight year renewal, maintaining accreditation includes the regular Annual Institutional Update (AIU), submitted every year.
Currently, Goucher’s task is to form the self-study evaluation, which will be formed into a report. Throughout this time, you may see people with suits on campus. These are representatives from Middle States. The workers may ask you questions, they are just getting a feel for the college on-ground, these are part of the “Team Visits”. After the process of evaluation, Goucher’s report will make it to the final commission action. Shackelford remarked her positive impression of Goucher based on the presentations she has seen today. According to her, the commission’s decision is headed towards reaccreditation.
By Kate Wisneskey ’28
Featured Photo Source: Samuel Rose
