THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

TO:	The Honorable the Members of the Board of Regents
FROM:	Johanna Duncan-Poitier
COMMITTEE:	Higher Education and Professional Practice
TITLE OF ITEM:	Wood/Tobe Coburn School, Inc.: Confirmation of Compliance with the Standards for Accreditation in Part 4 of the Rules of the Board of Regents and Renewal of Institutional Accreditation with Condition
DATE OF SUBMISSION:	December 20, 2004
PROPOSED HANDLING:	Action
RATIONALE FOR ITEM:	Action on Wood/Tobe Coburn School, Inc.’s application for renewal of institutional accreditation is needed because the School has designated the Board of Regents and the Commissioner of Education as its nationally recognized accrediting agency
STRATEGIC GOAL:	Goal 2
AUTHORIZATION(S):

SUMMARY:

Wood/Tobe-Coburn School, Inc. (WTC) requests renewal of its institutional accreditation by the Board of Regents and the Commissioner of Education. The School has designated the Regents and the Commissioner as its nationally recognized accrediting agency for the purposes of establishing eligibility to participate in Higher Education Act (HEA) Title IV student financial aid programs since it was granted Regents permission to award the Associate in Occupational Studies degree in 1971. This accreditation must be renewed periodically pursuant to 20 United States Code (USC) 1099b.

Following a review of the School's self-study, a team composed of six peer reviewers and a staff review coordinator visited WTC in October 2004 as part of the accreditation review process to assess the School's compliance with the standards for institutional accreditation. Department staff and the peer reviewers drafted the compliance visit report of their findings and recommendations. The Department transmitted the draft report to WTC for review and comment. The team's overall assessment was that the School was in substantial compliance with the Regents standards for institutional accreditation. The team made some recommendations for improvement. The School responded to the report and provided additional information for consideration of the Department and the Regent's Advisory Council on Institutional Accreditation. The final report was provided to WTC with the Department's recommendation to grant accreditation with condition for a period of ten years with a progress report due January 2006. This recommendation was put forth to the Regent's Advisory Council on Institutional Accreditation for consideration at its December 10, 2004 meeting.

Following a presentation by staff and representatives of WTC and subsequent discussions at its December 10, 2004 meeting, the Advisory Council voted to accept the Department's recommendation. The Advisory Council’s recommended accreditation action is as follows:

Accreditation with condition for a period of ten years, beginning March 18, 2005 and ending March 17, 2015 with a progress report due January 2006.

A summary of the Department’s preliminary recommendations to the Advisory Council is attached detailing the condition of accreditation. Specifically, WTC substantially meets all of the accreditation standards. The recommendations below are to assist the School in its efforts for continuous improvement:

The School shall provide a report due January 2006 on the following matters:

1. In response to the recommendations with regard to Curricula, Integrity of Credit, WTC will report on its review of the content, instructional mode, and credit hour designations of courses in the accounting and fashion merchandising programs. WTC will also review and monitor the grading designations for attendance and participation to determine if faculty are grading in accordance with the rubric stated on syllabi and make adjustments, if necessary.

2. The team questioned the appropriateness of the course assignments of four instructors. In its one-year progress report, WTC will provide the schedules and a summary of credentials of faculty teaching the general education courses to demonstrate compliance with the standards related to faculty competence and credentials. It must also provide assurance that an instructor in the graphic arts and an instructor in the travel program are qualified by credential and experience to teach in the respective programs. It must also develop a plan for the retention of qualified adjunct faculty.

3. A condition of WTC’s 2002 accreditation was to "Provide professional staff and begin to build a library collection sufficient to support the mission and curricula of the school." It has met the condition and now must continue to build the library’s collection.

4. Some additional physical space is needed at WTC. The team recommends that WTC provide private office space for full-time faculty and for the placement director.

Section 4.5(b)(8) of the Rules of the Board of Regents authorizes either the institution or the Deputy Commissioner to appeal the Advisory Council’s findings and recommendations to the Commissioner and provide that, in the absence of such an appeal, “the Commissioner shall adopt said findings and recommendations as the Commissioner’s findings and recommendations to the Board of Regents.” Neither WTC nor the Deputy Commissioner has appealed the Advisory Council’s findings and recommendations.

The Department agrees with the findings and recommendations of the Regents Advisory Council on Institutional Accreditation as stated above and recommends that the Regents grant Wood/Tobe Coburn School, Inc. renewal of its accreditation with condition for a period of ten years.

Board of Regents members with a conflict of interest, or the appearance of a conflict of interest, on this application are asked to recuse themselves from participating in this deliberation and decision.

Recommendation: I join the Regents Advisory Council on Institutional Accreditation in recommending that the Regents take the following action:

VOTED, that the Regents grant accreditation with condition to Wood/Tobe Coburn School, Inc. for a period of ten years, beginning March 18, 2005, and ending March 17, 2015. During that period, the College shall provide the report described in the recommendations of the Regents Advisory Council on Institutional Accreditation in its action of December 10, 2004.

Attachment

Summary of the Accreditation Review of

The Wood Tobe-Coburn School

and Preliminary Recommendation to the

Regents Advisory Council on Institutional Accreditation

Item for Consideration: December 10, 2004

The Wood/Tobe-Coburn School, 8 East 40^th Street, New York, NY, has been reviewed for confirmation of its compliance with the standards for institutional accreditation and for renewal of its institutional accreditation by the Board of Regents and the Commissioner of Education.

Preliminary Recommendation on Accreditation Action: Renew accreditation with condition. Period of accreditation: 10 years.

Institutional Information: The primary goal of the Wood/Tobe-Coburn (WTC) School is to prepare individuals for careers in business, service, allied health, and design industries. Since 1971, the school has been authorized by the Board of Regents to confer an Associate in Occupational Studies degree and currently offers five programs culminating in the associate degree and six diploma programs. The Regents have accredited WTC since 1972.

The school has built a strong reputation within the Manhattan area evidenced by its high placement rates averaging 97.5 percent for all programs. In 2003, 440 students were enrolled full time. The school does not enroll part time students

Reason for Recommendation: The Wood/Tobe-Coburn School conducted a self-study and in October 2004, underwent a site visit by a peer review team as part of the accreditation review process. The team's overall assessment was that the School was in substantial compliance with the standards for accreditation. The made some recommendations for improvement and recommends that WTC's accreditation is renewed with the condition that it carries out the recommendations.

The School shall provide a report, due at the end of the first year of the term of accreditation, on the following matters:

5. In response to the recommendations in regard to Curricula, Integrity of Credit, WTC will report on its review the content, instructional mode, and credit hour designations of courses in the accounting and fashion merchandising programs. WTC will also review and monitor the grading designations for attendance and participation to determine if faculty are grading in accordance with the rubric stated on syllabi and make adjustments, if necessary.

6. The team questioned the appropriateness of the course assignments of four instructors. In its one-year progress report, WTC will provide the schedules and a summary of credentials of faculty teaching the general education courses to demonstrate compliance with the standards related to faculty competence and credentials. It must also provide assurance that an instructor in the graphic arts and an instructor in the travel program are qualified by credential and experience to teach in the respective programs. It must also develop a plan for the retention of qualified adjunct faculty.

7. A condition of WTC’s 2002 accreditation was to "Provide professional staff and begin to build a library collection sufficient to support the mission and curricula of the school." It has met the condition and now must continue to build the library’s collection.

8. Some additional physical space is needed at WTC. The team recommends that WTC provide private office space for the full-time faculty and for the placement director.

The Department transmitted the draft compliance review report to WTC for review and comment. WTC accepted the draft report's recommendations. The compliance review report includes the draft report and Wood/Tobe-Coburn School's response. Based on the self-study and other pertinent material, the team's report and the School's response, the Department concurs with the recommendation of the site visit team.

The Honorable the Members of the Board of Regents