Information is power! Information is empowering! Information is key to decision-making. Finding information easily is critical to our success in the Middle States accrediting process.
One of the requirements for Middle States, woven throughout the seven standards, is communicating well to various constituencies, stakeholders, and members of the University community. Recognizing that we do a lot of communication very well, we still must continue to improve. And improvement takes all hands engaged in the process.
The launch of the University’s redesigned website is an example of our moving forward in an attempt to improve communication. Congrats to the teams of professionals from marketing communications and ITS under the leadership of Nicci Brown, vice president of communications and chief marketing officer. Initial feedback has been very positive.
However, the launch of the website is not the end of the process, and the team continues to want your feedback on how to improve.
One of the features of the new website is the student consumer information page. Bringing together this information met a federal government requirement, which Middle States in turn is required to verify; and the marketing communications and ITS team worked together to ensure this information was easier to find.
Another addition that helps us to meet Middle States requirements is the compliance page, which gives information about how the University addresses various federal and state regulations.
Although we do not like to discuss grievances, disputes and criticisms are part of life in any organization, large or small. The federal government requires that the students’ grievance processes are accessible, and the website team met the challenge. Middle States verifies our compliance for the federal government.
Additionally, the University is attempting to improve communication structure by creating a unified division of communication and marketing communication under the leadership of a new senior vice president who will report to the Chancellor and will be responsible for aligning all its functions, including internal and external communications, branding, web, and social media.
Creating one University, informed, responsive, and proactive, is a goal that the Middle States self-study process has been able to help the University improve.
By Rochelle Ford