PEA Prepares for Upcoming Accreditation

Exeter is in the midst of undergoing review by the nation’s regional accreditation association, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC); a judging committee will visit campus next April to verify that Exeter is adhering to NEASC’s standards for private institutions.

Faculty members head each of the 13 committees that assess various facets of life at Exeter including the school’s governance, student life and faculty and financial resources. “We determine whether we meet aspects or indicators of each standard. We identify areas of strength, as well as areas that need our attention,” said Governance Committee co-chair and Mathematics Instructor Laura Marshall.

 “We determine whether we meet aspects or indicators of each standard. We identify areas of strength, as well as areas that need our attention,” said Governance Committee co-chair and Mathematics Instructor Laura Marshall.

Committees were formed in winter term and met a total of nine times throughout the winter and spring terms. Residential Committee Member and English Instructor Tyler Caldwell explained the importance of accreditation. “Though the accreditation process can be time consuming, I think it is helpful for us to study and understand areas of the school in which we do well and areas of the school that need more attention and work, especially as we continue with our Strategic Planning initiatives,” he said.

The accreditation process will last two years and includes one year of collecting reports and one year of writing recommendations. “This year has been self-study phase one. We’ve had major programs including every academic department prepare reports on what they do,” NEASC Committee Chair and Physics Instructor Scott Saltman said. “Next year will be phase two of the self study where we’re looking at what the standards committees have come up with. We will synthesize probably five major recommendations from those reports.”

According to Saltman, as a larger school and one that “digs deep,” Exeter has formed a more detailed process than most schools. “For example, I know of a reasonably large school that underwent the process and their standards committees met twice as a group and then the committee chair sort of took care of the rest of it, whereas we had people meet nine times as a group. It’s a bigger process,” he said.

Recent changes in Exeter’s administration, specifically Principal Lisa MacFarlane’s departure at the end of the 2017-18 school year, have complicated to the accreditation process. “When we got the email that Principal MacFarlane would be leaving, I immediately called the commission and said ‘where are we on this?’ ” Saltman said. “And the commission said just continue forward [even though] you’re going to make a leadership transition.”

He continued, “The resignation has complicated things because now we will have to be mentioning in some areas, particularly on administration and governance, that this is the 2018 snapshot and that [it] might not be the case in a year when the visiting Committee is here.”

Though the accreditation process is formal, many faculty members emphasized that it was geared towards developing and improving the Academy, rather than checking that the school meets standards. “It is very unusual for schools to lose accreditation, so for most schools it is an opportunity to improve,” Marshall said.

These recommendations lay out multiple paths Exeter can take to improve as a school. The most recent NEASC review, from 2007, showed that Exeter’s evaluation process for continuously appointed faculty members needed to be improved. The school has since begun changing related programs including the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Program.

Each of the committees conducts its work differently. Caldwell said that the Residential Committee is divided into subgroups, and each focuses on two topics. He further detailed the subgroups’ methods to study the school. “[The subgroups] read through and examine different documents or surveys, and they interview certain adults on campus to assess whether or not we meet a particular indicator,” he said.

Marshall noted that the change affects the Governance Committee’s role. “One of our indicators [questions provided by NEASC] asks if the governance of the school has a process in place that provides for stability and an effective transition of leadership,” Marshall said. “The recent announcement of the change in leadership has not made our job more difficult, but it has meant that it has been more time consuming.”

Co-chair of the Health and Safety Committee Michelle Soucy shared similar sentiments on the administrative changes’ effect on the accreditation process. “It is somewhat arduous to figure out what areas of strategic planning line up with areas of accreditation and what our priorities are with a changing head,” Soucy said.

However, the committees have largely discovered that Exeter’s performance adheres to NEASC standards. Soucy found that Exeter is “in many ways above standards” but that “there is always room for improvement.” She said, “We found that PEA does a fairly consistent and good job when it comes to the health and safety of our students.”

Throughout the process, Saltman noticed recurring areas the school could improve upon, many of which faculty members were already aware of. “Diversity, equity and inclusion [are] popping up in various places as [areas] where we’ve taken certain steps, but...we’re not where we want to be as a community,” Saltman said. “There will be likely some recommendations coming out that are related to that.”

Soucy also cited “supporting a more diverse student body,” as an improvement that Exeter hopes to achieve.

Faculty also noticed high workload levels was a recurring theme. “We’re getting some more focused suggestions coming from these committees that are able to look at these problems with different lenses,” Saltman said.

Whether by evaluating or improving, the purpose of accreditation is to “show the outside world that we uphold the highest standard of care and education,” Soucy said.

Saltman concluded that the accreditation process’ intent is to support a better environment for students. He said, “[It] all comes down to the student experience, how we can improve all aspects of our school in order to ensure that students are thriving and getting the best education and experience possible.”