Self-Study 2013-2016 is a key component of IUP Middle States Accreditation 2016, our decennial university accreditation review by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Everyone in the IUP community, on and off campus, is invited to contribute thoughts on the progress the university has made since our last reaffirmation of accreditation.

What does IUP do well? Where is improvement needed? Self-Study addresses all aspects of university life: academic programs, faculty/staff expertise, campus life, facilities, university governance, financial stewardship, community partnerships, and more.

Watch for many ways to share your views-e-mail surveys, public forums, comment areas on published documents, and others-and participate. Your views are vital to IUP Middle States accreditation.

Self-Study Timeline

Pre-Review: Steering Committee Forms; Pre-Planning Begins
April-May 2013
  • Steering Committee Formed
  • First meeting of Steering Committee May 7, 2013
May 2013
  • Self-study organizational model chosen
June 2013
  • Subcommittee chairs selected; appointments to subcommittees begin
July 2013
  • Early draft research questions created by co-chairs; data gathering begins, organized according to MSCHE Accreditation Readiness Report Guidelines ("Document Roadmap")
August 2013
  • IUP Middle States website created
  • Data sharing wiki chosen (Confluence)
Year 1: Subcommittees Form and Work Begins
September 2013
  • MSCHE 2015 Review Process communicated to IUP community
  • Subcommittee appointments finalized
  • Communication plan finalized
October 2013
  • Steering committee and subcommittees finalize research questions
  • Initial meetings of subcommittees/subcommittee review of research questions/ return revised research questions to steering committee for final approval
November 2013
  • Self-Study Institute
December 2013
  • Research questions finalized by steering committee
  • Searchable data library created in Confluence
February 2014
  • Self-study design finalized by steering committee
  • Site visit by MSCHE staff liaison to review self-study design on February 26, 2014; revisions to self-study design requested.
  • Data point person meets with subcommittees about data in Confluence
  • Subcommittees request data and begin analysis
March 2014
  • Steering committee revises self-study design
April-May 2014
  • Revised self-study design sent to MSCHE liaison April 30, 2014
  • Subcommittees continue to meet, gather data, and report back to the steering committee
Year 2: Data Collection and Analysis by Subcommittees/Creation of Draft Self-Study Report
September-December 2014
  • Subcommittees continue to collect and analyze data
October 2014
  • MSCHE Master Survey conducted via Qualtrics to IUP community
November 2014
  • MSCHE Master Survey conducted via Qualtrics to IUP community
December 10, 2014
  • Subcommittees submit drafts of Chapter Outlines to steering committee
February 2015
  • First drafts of chapters from subcommittees submitted to steering committee co-chairs; reviewed by steering committee and feedback given to subcommittees
April 2015
  • Second drafts from subcommittees submitted to steering committee co-chairs; reviewed by steering committee
May 2015
  • Steering committee makes recommendations to Faculty writer by May 15
Summer 2015
  • Faculty writer synthesizes report and drafts self-study report
Year 3: Creation of the Final Report and On-Campus MSCHE Team visit
September 2015
  • Self-study report (revised draft version) shared with steering committee ; review and community-wide discussion of self-study; revisions made as necessary
October 2015
  • Second draft of self-study generated and distributed
November 2015
  • Self-study draft sent to Team Chair in advance of Preliminary Visit
  • MSCHE Evaluation Team Chair visits IUP campus
December 2015-January 2016
  • Edits and revision of self-study based on feedback from Team Chair
February 2016
  • Final version of self-study produced and sent to Visiting Team
March-April 2016
  • Visiting Team visits campus (no later than April 15, 2016)
June 2016
  • Commission meets to determine Accreditation Action