Our Self-Study will link the accreditation and strategic planning process, providing a more comprehensive view of UMBC’s present and future growth path than either process could accomplish alone. To operationalize the intended outcome and combine the efforts of the strategic planning and accreditation teams we will integrate material from the planning process throughout the Self-Study.
We will integrate the research questions prepared and answered as part of the campus strategic planning process into the research questions for the Self-Study. There are important areas where our planning needs and accreditation requirements overlap closely. Our Self-Study will take advantage of the complementarities between our current accreditation and strategic planning efforts. In addition to their role in assisting the Study Groups in demonstrating compliance with Middle States standards, we have developed questions designed to focus our attention on important and useful issues that will help us to identify margins where we can continue to improve our effectiveness.
Each process is purposefully designed with a similar structure. Study Groups and Strategy Groups are charged with answering research questions that address an identified mission, value, or thematic accreditation standard. The information uncovered by the groups can and will be shared across processes. The groups report their analysis, conclusions, and recommendations to steering committees to provide a more comprehensive view of UMBC, its performance, and its future mission, vision, and goals.
The two independent, but interrelated, processes are both oriented towards a common goal of advancing the excellence of UMBC, where the strategic planning process identifies key priorities and goals, and institutional effectiveness helps to implement and measure progress towards achieving those goals.
