The King’s College Reaccredited

New York City – June 29, 2015 – The King’s College is pleased to announce that it has been reaccredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The reaccreditation was announced on Friday, June 26, and comes after a year of intensive self-study conducted by the faculty, staff, and administration of the college.

“We’re delighted that MSCHE has decided to award reaccreditation to the College,” said Dr. Gregory Alan Thornbury, President of The King’s College. “We have worked diligently to ensure that our daily work matches up with both our vision as an institution and the standards of our peer institutions, and we are glad that work has been recognized and will continue to the benefit of our students, alumni, and the broader King’s community.”

Nearly every full-time faculty and staff member, along with select Board members, administrators, alumni, and students—more than 70 individuals in total—participated in the self-study during the 2013-2014 academic year in a series of working groups. Additionally, a Steering Committee ensured that each group’s members included both a broad base of interdepartmental perspectives and individuals with expertise in the particular area of study.

The Steering Committee selected the comprehensive model for the College’s self-study report, and committee members served as chairs or co-chairs of six working institutional research groups, each responsible for the research and writing of at least two of the MSCHE’s fourteen standards of excellence.

The Steering Committee included Thornbury; Mr. Frank Torino, Vice President of Finance and Human Resources; Mr. Eric Bennett, Vice President of Student Development; Dr. Robert Carle, Professor of Theology; Dr. Ethan Campbell, Assistant Professor of English and Literature; Dr. Matthew Parks, Assistant Professor of Politics; and Ms. Judy Samuelson, former Director of Information Technology.

The working groups submitted initial drafts of their reports in May 2014, and Campbell and Associate Vice President of Academic Administration and Institutional Research Ina Kumi produced a complete draft for the Steering Committee’s approval in August. After a site visit in October from Dr. Robert Graham, chair of the MSCHE Evaluation Team, the committee made further revisions and submitted a final draft to all Evaluation Team members in November to prepare for their site visit on February 1-4, 2015.

During that site visit, the team determined that “from the documentation, interviews, and meetings with various constituencies, there seems to be a universal sense that the College has taken many significant and positive steps in the last year and a half. All of those interviewed seem to be genuinely passionate about the mission of the College and hopeful for the future. Faculty members, staff members, board members, and students expressed strong support for the current leadership and the systemic changes that have been put in place to sustain a stronger institution. The evaluation team has a greater sense of what The King’s College has to offer and comes away with greater appreciation and respect for the College.”

“We are pleased that the re-accreditation of King’s recognizes our ongoing commitment to the standards of excellence put forth by Middle States, which represent the norm in higher education,” said Kumi. “This excellence is achieved through an ongoing process of learning and improvement; therefore we think of this as a milestone in the reaffirmation of the foundation and the establishment of the future of The King’s College.”

“As an institution, we were encouraged by this review process to pursue even further the tenets of excellence that define The King’s College,” said Dr. Mark Hijleh, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty. “It was terrific to hear from Middle States, which holds its member institutions to very high standards, that we are doing so well. Everyone here has worked diligently to meet and exceed these high standards, especially in the years since our previous review, and we will continue to do so as we address the recommendations from the committee in ways that I believe will only make us better.”

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is a voluntary, non-governmental, membership association that is dedicated to quality assurance and improvement through accreditation via peer evaluation. Middle States accreditation instills public confidence in institutional mission, goals, performance, and resources through its rigorous accreditation standards and their enforcement.

The College community welcomes the reaccreditation as a sign of its continued pursuit of its mission.