RVCC 2019 NECHE Self-Study

INTRODUCTION
River Valley Community College (RVCC) began the self-study process in 2015, with the
following goals in mind:
To improve the College’s ability to meet the needs of all students;
To demonstrate the College’s ability to persevere and provide high quality education
for students even in the midst of challenging times;
To highlight the College’s areas of strength and communicate readiness to build
upon these strengths moving forward.
The president at the time, Dr. Harvey-Smith, identified and appointed a chair for each
standard. On October 15 th , 2015, all Standard Chairs were sent to participate in the Self-
Study Workshop in Southbridge, MA. Upon returning to campus, under the direction of the
Special Assistant to the President, the Standard Chairs met and developed a timeline for
data collection and completion of the self-study. In order to ensure wide participation, all
members of the college community were charged with volunteering for a Standard that
was of interest to them. Standard committees were finalized during the Fall 2015
semester, based on the 2013 Standards for Accreditation.
In 2016, with the consolidation from eleven to nine Standards for Accreditation, the
standard committees were re-formatted to reflect the new standards. Committees were
also updated to reflect current employment at the College, and to ensure that all college
faculty and staff were given a voice in the process. Simultaneously, the project oversight
was transitioned to the Associate Vice-President of Academic Affairs (AVPAA) of the Keene
Academic Center (KAC) who currently serves as a faculty member and the Department
Chair of the Business department.
In AY 2016-2017, due to multiple changes in administration, RVCC was granted permission
from NECHE to postpone the self-study from Spring of 2018 to Spring of 2019. Standard
committees began meeting in the Spring Semester of 2017 to work individually on their
standards and to begin preparations for data collection in Fall of 2017. Each Standard
Chair or Co-Chair was responsible for setting meeting dates and agendas, working with
and guiding their committees, and gathering data to address the required information.
During the “Faculty and Staff Work Weeks” in fall 2017, which are the traditional kick-off
to the academic year, Dr. Patricia O’Brien travelled to RVCC and presented to the entire
college community. At this August 24, 2017 visit, Dr. O’Brien’s presentation highlighted
the process of accreditation, some areas to pay attention to when gathering data and
writing standards, and information to clarify questions on the consolidation of the
standards. The standard committees then proceeded to break out sessions where each
committee could review the work that had been done in Spring 2017, review their
progress, and ask questions of Dr. O’Brien. Following the break-out sessions, the
Standard Chairs met with Dr. O’Brien to wrap up with any follow-up questions that they
had.
Standard Chairs continued to work on gathering data, and in Fall of 2017, a “one voice”
writer was appointed to write the self-study. During the Spring 2018 Faculty Work Week
1 | P a g e