AU has reached a critical moment in the process to reaffirm accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)—and the university community is invited to be part of the next step.

Through December 21, AU’s accreditation steering committee is seeking feedback from faculty and staff on a self-study report that, once finalized, will be a key document in reaccreditation.

“We’re hoping that the AU community sees themselves in the report, and they see how their role at AU impacts our operations, student engagement, and priorities,” said Middle States cochair Sheila Bedford, senior professorial lecturer in the Kogod School of Business. 

While accreditation by the regional body recognized by the US Department of Education is voluntary, it’s an essential step every 10 years for institutions like AU to offer federal financial aid to students.

AU’s self-study report is the culmination of two years of dedicated work by 90 stakeholders and five subcommittees to help detail the university’s accomplishments and identify long-term projects to advance its strategic direction.

“We have many amazing things happening here: lots of good scholarship, amazing teaching, wonderful students, great faculty,” said Middle States cochair Karen Froslid Jones, assistant provost of institutional research and assessment. “But that’s not to say we don’t have challenges, and the self-study doesn’t shy away from that either.”

Six student volunteers also advised on the project, including Andrew Grub, SPA/BA ’25. The political science and legal studies major joined the effort because he “believes AU does everything it can to help students thrive” and wanted to offer input that “reflects why I’m here and why I love it,” he said.

“The document [represents] the core values and heart of the institution. Reading it should make every student proud to be an American University student because of what we’ve accomplished and what we continue to strive to accomplish,” Grub said.

The steering committee decided early on that instead of organizing the report around MSCHE’s required standards, it would be structured around the strategic imperatives detailed in AU’s seven-year strategic plan, Changemakers for a Changing World.

That decision was important for creating a living document that both demonstrates how the university meets the standards for accreditation and provides a useful resource to the AU community, Froslid Jones said. “We want this self-study to be a value-add for the community.”

Once finalized, the 123-page report will be delivered in March to a “visiting team” led by chair Rev. Peter Donohue, Villanova University’s president. During a three-day visit to AU in April, the team, which includes administrators and staff from other universities, will evaluate how well AU met MSCHE’s required standards prepare a report with recommendations for the commission. In June, the commission will vote on AU’s accreditation.

In the meantime, the campus community still has time to weigh in on how AU’s changemaking work will continue. “If they think one of the recommendations is really important, we’d love to hear from them,” Froslid Jones said. “Let us know so that we know we are going in the right direction.”

AU community members can offer comments or suggestions by emailing middlestates@american.edu.