Stony Brook University has successfully reaffirmed its accreditation through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, a process that underscores the institution’s compliance with federal and state requirements and gives Stony Brook a crucial distinction in higher education.
Accreditation is an important factor for universities, enabling access to federal student aid and research funding. It is also mandated by New York State and the State University of New York (SUNY) Board of Trustees. The University’s recent accreditation journey, which concluded with the reaffirmation on June 27, 2024, was a rigorous and extensive process spanning two and a half years.
Stony Brook Vice President for Educational & Institutional Effectiveness Braden Hosch highlighted in an interview that accreditation confirmed Stony Brook’s strengths.
“What’s really important for us is that it’s a validation of the sort of outstanding work that we’ve been doing, and allows us to keep focusing on things like the strategic plan and presidential priorities and being the number one public university in New York,” Hosch said.
The process began with the formation of a steering committee with 30 members. There are three members of the leadership team including Hosch, 14 co-chairs and 13 additional members. This team meticulously prepared a self-study document that spanned 12,000 pages and was supported by approximately 1,000 documents. The detailed report was a culmination of exhaustive research and collaborative drafting efforts over the span of 18 months.
“So each group was responsible for drafting a chapter,” Hosch recalled. “And then they would give that to the leadership team for feedback. The leadership team would give some feedback, they would revise…we ended up doing nine drafts on that over the course of those 18 months.”
The self-study document was scrutinized by a site visit team chaired by Bruce E. Jarrell, the president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore. This team conducted a preliminary visit in November and a full evaluation in April, examining both the main campus and additional locations including SUNY Korea and Stony Brook Southampton. Their review involved meetings with various work groups and a thorough review of the evidence library.
“There are about 30 or so other four-year SUNY institutions,” Hosch said. “And of those, 14 of them had follow-ups to do. Three of them were put on warning. So what happened to those institutions? They end up being distracted from the important work of making sure that you all have the best educational experience to [address] some institutional deficiencies.”
Among the schools put on warning for not receiving accreditation were SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Delhi, which were given several instructions for follow-up. SUNY Potsdam received a warning for non-compliance in two of seven categories, including finances and student achievement assessment. SUNY Delhi received a non-compliance warning for insufficient evidence that the institution complied with Standard VI, which covers planning, resources and institutional improvement.
The final report from the site visit team found no deficiencies in Stony Brook’s operations. Instead, it highlighted 17 accommodations and provided some advice for further enhancement. The team recommended implementing a curriculum management software system to streamline curriculum approval processes, expanding the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access Fellowship program, and adding information on resources regarding sexual and relationship violence, as well as mental health to the syllabus template.
Regarding Standard IV: Support of the Student Experience, they stated the institution could create more detailed fee information on the student bill to provide greater transparency to students. Despite these recommendations and some others, the site visit team celebrated the University’s success in every category.
Hosch said that this outcome reaffirms Stony Brook’s commitment to maintaining high standards and allows it to continue focusing on its strategic goals without the distraction of accreditation deficiencies.
“I’m really proud of how the whole Stony Brook community came together on this,” Hosch expressed. “I think that people were so energized by Stony Brook and the great things that we’ve accomplished, but were also able to sort of come together and pool their knowledge about the institution in order to demonstrate how we meet some fairly stringent standards for accountability.”
