Unified Accreditation Process and Timeline
To advance unified accreditation, a five-member University of Maine System (UMS) project management leadership team is working in concert with an Executive Steering Committee (comprising the six university presidents, the Law School dean, and the University of Maine and University of Southern Maine provosts), the Office of Organizational Effectiveness, and many other partners.
Current unified accreditation initiatives include the ongoing work of the University of Maine System Faculty Governance Council; the Unified Catalog project team, comprising university and UMS representatives; and the 2022 UMS NECHE self study effort, representing the work of the spring 2021 draft writing teams, two data teams (one managing institutional/profile data, the other managing assessment data), a small editorial team, and others. The self study will be shared in draft with the UMS community in September 2021, February 2022, and May 2022 before being finalized in June 2022.
UMS completed a NECHE evaluation visit– addressing our progress in implementing unified accreditation– in May 2021, with a follow-up visit in September 2021. We expect to receive an action letter responding to that evaluation from our regional accreditor, the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), shortly.
Monthly updates on unified accreditation progress and milestones continue to be posted on this website. We encourage you to check in regularly.