Highlights
Highlights
Self-Study Highlights
The 2027 Self-Study process extends from Spring 2025 through our site visit in Fall 2027. The Self-Study process will focus on seven Standards for Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation (14th Edition) and is being undertaken by a large committee of more than 100 members of the Rowan community, including faculty, staff, students, members of our board of trustees and alumni. Once the draft of the Self-Study Report has been completed, we will ask all current members of the Rowan community to review it and provide feedback, as we prepare to submit the report by the Summer of 2027. This website provides information on the Self-Study process and how the Rowan community can engage in the university's reaccreditation.Institutional Priorities to be Addressed in the Self-Study
Under the leadership of President Ali A. Houshmand, Rowan University has operated within a strategic framework comprising four pillars (Access, Affordability, Quality, and Economic Impact) and three mission principles (Inclusivity, Agility, and Responsiveness). President Houshmand also set four ambitious targets for enrollment, the operating budget, research expenditures, and the endowment. This framework and set of catalyzing goals have served as the institution’s compass and its yardstick for over ten years.
The framework is operationalized through five broad institutional goals that describe the institution’s overarching priorities and identify its strategic domains. Annually, the President convenes the leadership of the University for a two-day strategic retreat where specific initiatives are developed for the upcoming year to advance the institution.
ACCESSWe are committed to expanding quality educational opportunities for students by increasing our enrollment capacity; supporting student success and well-being; utilizing an increasing array of pedagogies, modalities, and platforms; and creating new pathways to undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate, and professional studies. |
AFFORDABILITYWe are committed to keeping higher education affordable by containing the cost of education for students; providing equitable financial assistance; reducing student debt; and ensuring that students and families achieve a sustainable return on their investment. |
QUALITYWe are committed to providing rigorous, experiential, and engaging educational experiences; support for scholarly, creative, and research activities; meaningful internship and employment opportunities for our students; a vibrant and healthy campus life; a rich intellectual, cultural, and artistic environment; and a safe, supportive and inclusive culture that respects and values the diversity of all of its members. |
ECONOMIC ENGINEWe are committed to benefiting our local and state communities by partnering with industry and regional businesses and organizations; preparing an educated citizenry and skilled workforce; enhancing the health of our citizens and their quality of life; and developing innovative products, services, and ideas. |
Institutional Goals
Rowan University will become a new model for higher education by being inclusive, agile, and responsive, offering diverse scholarly and creative educational experiences, pathways, environments, and services to meet the needs of all students; maintaining agility by strategically delivering organizational capacity across the institution and responding to emerging demands and opportunities regionally and nationally.
Provide multiple pathways to higher education credentials for students with different needs.
Commit to success for all learners.
Build human, infrastructure, and resource capacity.
Engage in innovative discovery, invention, and application of knowledge.
Create and develop competitive advantages.
Intended Outcomes of the Self-Study
The Self-Study process presents a meaningful opportunity to reflect on progress, evaluate effectiveness, and engage the broader University community in a transparent and inclusive appraisal of the institution. Through this process, the University aims to assess its attainment of the Middle States Commission’s Standards for Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation, demonstrating compliance and providing evidence. We will evaluate the relevance and clarity of the institutional mission as a guiding framework for decision-making and strategic planning, while leveraging assessment findings to drive continuous improvement and innovation.
The Self-Study thus provides a critical opportunity for reflection and communication toward the following outcomes:
- Demonstrate how the institution currently meets the Commission’s Standards for Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation (Fourteenth Edition) and provides evidence by Standard in alignment with the Evidence Expectations by Standard.
- Leverage periodic assessment through each standard, using assessment results for continuous improvement and innovation to ensure levels of quality for constituents and the attainment of the institution’s priorities, mission, and goals.
- Engage the institutional community in an inclusive and transparent self-appraisal process, including analysis of a range of data, including disaggregated data, to ensure students are appropriately served and institutional mission and goals are met.
- Assess the currency, relevance, and clarity of direction provided by the mission statement as an expression of institutional priorities and roadmap for achieving institutional goals.
- Reflect on the impact of significant initiatives and developments undertaken or experienced by the institution and evaluate the strategies implemented to enhance institutional effectiveness through these changes.