Self-Study Design - Howard University, Graduate School

of Institutional Research, the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (CETLA), and
other data gathering units within the Office of the Provost and Chief Academic Officer.
Links to University Initiatives
In preparing to launch the University-Wide Self-Study for Middle States reaffirmation of
accreditation, the Self-Study leadership was mindful of other related efforts underway at the
University, as well as the need to articulate with those efforts, as appropriate, to decrease
unnecessary redundancy and to strengthen the final Self-Study product. Specifically, those
efforts were as follows:
• The Presidential Search: a committee of the Board of Trustees established to search for
and recommend a new President of Howard University to replace outgoing President, H.
Patrick Swygert, who will retire on June 30, 2008.
• The Academic Excellence Initiative: an initiative of the Academic Excellence Committee
of the Board of Trustees and the Office of the Provost designed to provide the
assessments and recommendations required to align the departmental and programmatic
offerings of the schools and colleges with strategic objectives and financial resources.
• The Long Range Financial Planning: a special committee of the Board of Trustees
charged with the responsibility for recommending a strategy for aligning the University’s
budget with its mission and goals, and with ascertaining evolving trends in higher
education and the society at large that affect Howard University’s present and future
status as a national research university with a predominantly African-American student
body.
• Accreditation efforts in the various schools, colleges, and selected support units from
national professional societies and accrediting agencies.
Self-Study Goals and Objectives
The Self-Study will provide the data and analyses required to demonstrate that Howard
University continues to meet the Characteristics of Excellence, as defined by the Middle States
Commission on Higher Education, and to document its eligibility to have its accreditation
reaffirmed. The University’s governing board, administrative leadership, faculty, and the general
University community will use the results of the Self-Study to advance further the University’s
mission as a national research university of the first rank that is competitive with its peers and
poised to achieve its aspirational institutional goals and objectives.
The Self-Study report will be part of the reports and information that will be available to the
incoming Howard University President as a basis for continued strategic planning and definition
of the future course of the institution.
Our goal, therefore, is to produce a living document that will provide a “snapshot” of the
University for its relevant stakeholders to assist them in defining the University’s future within
the context of its past and current standing.
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