Spectrum - Volume 20 Issue 21 February 19, 1998 - Preparing for the March 15-18 Visit

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Preparing for the March 15-18 Visit
By David Conn, self-study director

Spectrum Volume 20 Issue 21 - February 19, 1998

Detailed preparations for the March 15-18 visit of the SACS Reaffirmation Committee are well under way.
The committee will have 14 members, who we expect to be accompanied by an official observer and a staff person from SACS's Commission on Colleges. Ten of the members will conduct an audit of the compliance component of our self-study, while the other four will consult with us regarding the strategic component. One of the SACS committee members will also chair a team from the NCAA, which will be visiting simultaneously as part of the Athletic Department's certification process.
The visit will open with meetings on Sunday afternoon, March 15, followed by a reception and dinner. By Monday morning, every visiting committee member will be hard at work, reviewing documentation and conducting interviews. Not only administrators will be interviewed; faculty and staff members, students, and possibly even alumni may also be called upon to answer questions.
To assist the university community in understanding the nature of the process and in learning what kinds of questions are likely to be asked, presentations are being made to groups such as University Council, the Advisory Council on Strategic Budgeting and Planning, some of the commissions, department heads, and various administrative staffs. In addition, an open forum will be held from 1 to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4, in 1045 Pamplin, for anyone who wishes to come.
By the end of the visit, on Wednesday, March 18, committee members will have completed their written contributions to the draft report. A summary of the report's content (including any recommendations and suggestions) will be presented orally at an exit session from 1 to 2 p.m. on that same day, before members depart from Blacksburg. Soon afterwards, the committee chair, John Prados of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will provide us with a written copy of the draft so that we may check it for obvious errors. Subsequently, the Commission on Colleges will give us an opportunity to prepare a more detailed response, if we choose to do so.
Check the self-study report on the web at http://www.vt.edu:10021/admin/provost/selfstudy . For more information, contact selfstudy@vt.edu.