In February 2016, Provost August wrote on my behalf to invite over eighty-five members of the college faculty, staff, and student body to serve as members of the committee for the self-study preceding City Tech’s decennial Middle States reaccreditation review. I am pleased to be able to share the very positive results of the committee’s work and to acknowledge not only the committee, but also the many other members of the City Tech community who participated in surveys, focus groups, meetings, and interviews that gave the self-study its substance and texture.

After a two-year cross-institutional effort, the college submitted its self-study report in January 2018, followed by a visit from an external team in March. Subsequently, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education renewed City Tech’s accreditation for the full eight-year period and further acted: “to commend the institution for the quality of self-study process and report.”

Additionally, the external team commended the college for a number of initiatives and practices, perhaps the most comprehensive and important being this one from Standard I-Mission and Goals:

• The College is to be commended for its approach to its mission - while the mission statement was revised recently to reflect updated language, the core mission of the college has remained the same for many years. In interviews with faculty, staff, students, and administration, it became very clear to the team the mission of the college drives every activity of the college and is widely embraced by the community

The college’s self-study report made four important recommendations that will guide our institutional work for the next few years:

1. Implement a comprehensive, cross-institutional plan for student retention and success.
2. Strengthen overall institutional effectiveness by building on practices instituted to assess student learning outcomes.
3. Improve scope, documentation, and transparency in complaint resolution process.
4. Refine our facilities and technology master plans to take advantage of new opportunities.

Middle States affirmed these recommendations, and added some elaboration that can be seen in their Visiting Team Report and on the Recommendations page. This is a substantial agenda, but the success of the Middle States process should give us confidence both in our direction and also in our capacity to fulfill it.

I thank all who participated in the Self-Study. Given the college community’s dedication to the success of our students, the outcome of this accreditation review is not surprising-and all deservedly share in the recognition and the commendation. I look forward to our work as a college community to carrying out the recommendations that will move the college forward in the fulfillment of its mission.

Russ Hotzler

September 1, 2018

Visiting Team Report

Reaccreditation Letter