Reaccrediting site team to review university progress

Donald N. Langenberg is no stranger to UW–Madison. As chancellor of the University System of Maryland, Langenberg has visited the Madison campus several times over his 30-year academic career. And his daughter and family reside in the capital city.

For more information, contact New Directions: The Reaccreditation Project, at 263-9233, or visit the New Directions web site.

That knowledge will be useful for Langenberg as he leads the team of faculty and university administrators that is touring the campus April 11-14 as part of UW–Madison’s 10-year reaccreditation.

The university has conducted an extensive self-study as part of the reaccreditation process to review past progress and set future directions, as it did in 1988, the last time it was reaccredited. Now, Langenberg and his 13-member team will descend on campus for three intensive days of meetings. The team’s goal: help UW–Madison move into the future.

“Frankly, I don’t think the question of reaccreditation is really in question,” says Langenberg. “That is not what we will focus on. We will focus on trying to provide a thorough and candid review of what we see as the current state of affairs on campus. We will then focus on providing useful information to the campus to help the university move beyond its sesquicentennial year. UW–Madison is looking forward to its next 150 years, and we’d like to give it a good start on it.”

A physicist and former chancellor of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Langenberg has led reaccreditation site team visits at the University of Minnesota, State University of New York at Stony Brook and Brooklyn College. He was also a member of a reaccreditation site team that reviewed Boston University. Provost John Wiley served with Langenberg on the Minnesota site team.

During the three-day visit to UW–Madison, Langenberg and his team will fan out to meet with campus faculty, staff, students, alumni and administrators, along with UW System administrators, regents and state legislators. The members will regroup each evening to compare notes.

“We want to get people’s views of the issues and challenges facing the university, and we want their perspective on the progress reports and future plans set forth in the reaccreditation self-study,” Langenberg says. “We want as broad and deep of a review that we can make in the time available.”

The visit will culminate with Langenberg and team members presenting preliminary recommendations to the campus administration. After leaving Madison, the site team will prepare a detailed report of its findings, which will be used along with the university’s self-study to develop a campus strategic plan for the next 10 years. The university expects to complete its strategic plan during the 1999-2000 academic year.

“Most campuses find the site team report a very useful complement to its self-study,” Langenberg says. “We want to help the university see itself as others see it and as it sees itself.”

The following faculty and university administrators will tour UW–Madison April 11-14 as part of the university’s 10-year reaccreditation by the North Central Association:

Harry W. Arthurs, dean and professor of law, Osgoode Law School, York University, Toronto.

William J. Crowe, vice chancellor for information services and dean of libraries, University of Kansas.

Jesse Delia, dean of the College of Letters and Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Janet Hamilton, vice chancellor-administration, University of California-Davis.

Richard Herman, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor of math, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Phillip E. Jones, vice president for student services, University of Iowa.

Donald N. Langenberg, chancellor, University System of Maryland, site team chair.

Carl Monk, executive vice president and executive director, Association of American Law Schools. Monk is on leave from Washburn University, where he teaches law.

Morteza Rahimi, vice president for information technology and professor of electrical engineering, Northwestern University.

Holly Smith, professor of philosophy and dean of the faculty of social and behavioral sciences, University of Arizona.

Barbara Steidle, assistant provost for undergraduate education and academic services, Michigan State University. Steidle is also chair of the NCA assessment committee.

Marilyn Stokstad, professor of art history, University of Kansas.

Tyson Tildon, associate dean of research and graduate studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore.

George E. Walker, vice president for research, dean of the graduate school and professor of physics, Indiana University.