Meeting of the Board of Regents | May 2008
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THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234 |
TO: |
Higher Education Committee |
FROM: |
Johanna Duncan-Poitier
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SUBJECT: |
Initial Institutional Accreditation of the Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
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DATE: |
April 30, 2008 |
STRATEGIC GOAL: |
Goal 2 |
AUTHORIZATION(S): |
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SUMMARY
Issue for Decision
Should the Board of Regents grant accreditation to the Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center?
Reason(s) for Consideration
Required by State regulation.
Proposed Handling
Procedural History
In March 2005, the Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (Gerstner Sloan-Kettering) applied for institutional accreditation by the Board of Regents and the Commissioner of Education pursuant to Subpart 4-1 of the Rules of the Board of Regents. It submitted its self-study in 2007. In December 2007, a peer review team visited the Graduate School. The Department issued its final report on the application for accreditation in March 2008. On April 18, 2008, the Regents Advisory Council on Institutional Accreditation voted unanimously to recommend that the Board of Regents accredit Gerstner Sloan-Kettering for a six-year period. Neither the Graduate School nor the Senior Deputy Commissioner of Education appealed that recommendation to the Commissioner.
Background Information
Gerstner Sloan-Kettering is an independent higher education institution located in Manhattan, New York County, awarding the Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees and offering a Ph.D. program in Cancer Biology. It received a provisional charter in September 2004 and an absolute charter in March 2008. Gerstner Sloan-Kettering is part of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, which also includes Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases and the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research. At the time of the visit, it had 19 students, all full time, and 93 faculty members, all full time.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the Board of Regents accredit the Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for a period of six years ending on May 20, 2014.
Regents with a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest on this application are asked to recuse themselves from participating in the deliberation and decision.
Timetable for Implementation
If the Board of Regents grants institutional accreditation to Gerstner Sloan-Kettering, that accreditation will go into effect immediately. On the basis of that action, the Department will renew the registration of the Graduate School’s program. Gerstner Sloan-Kettering will be required to submit accreditation data reports annually and a mid-term self-study report.
Attachment
Information in Support of Recommendation
Peer Review Visit. In preparation for a visit by a peer review team, Gerstner Sloan-Kettering prepared a self-study following the requirements for self-studies in the Handbook of Institutional Accreditation. On December 3-4, 2007, a peer review team visited the Graduate School. It examined the self-study and other documents; met with the faculty, students, and the president, dean, and other administrators; examined the facilities and academic, research, and administrative resources; and observed a class. It made one recommendation and recommended accreditation for six years, without condition, in order to give Gerstner Sloan-Kettering sufficient time for at least one class to graduate before its next peer review.
Peer Review Team Recommendation: Accreditation for a period of six years.
The Department transmitted the team’s draft compliance review report to Gerstner Sloan-Kettering, providing it 30 days to prepare a written response correcting factual errors and addressing any other aspect of the report. The draft report, Gerstner Sloan-Kettering’s response, and the Department’s preliminary recommendation for accreditation action became the final compliance review report.
Regents Advisory Council Review. As required by Subpart 4-1, the Department transmitted the final compliance review report, including its preliminary recommendation for accreditation action, for consideration by the Regents Advisory Council on Institutional Accreditation (the Advisory Council is established in §3.12(d) of the Rules of the Board of Regents “to review applications for accreditation and renewal of accreditation pursuant to Part 4 of this Title, and such other matters as the department may ask it to review, and make recommendations to the Regents and the commissioner based on its review”). The Department’s preliminary recommendation was:
Department’s Preliminary Recommendation: Accredit for a period of six years.
On April 18, 2008, the Advisory Council met to consider Gerstner Sloan-Kettering’s application and to make a recommendation to the Board of Regents on its accreditation. In a public meeting, it met with representatives of the Graduate School, the chair of the peer review team, and the staff coordinator of the accreditation review. Following presentations by Gerstner Sloan-Kettering, the team chair, and the staff coordinator; questions; and discussion, the Advisory Council unanimously made the following recommendation to the Board of Regents on accreditation action:
Regents Advisory Council Recommendation: Accredit for a period of six years.
Commissioner’s Review. Neither Gerstner Sloan-Kettering nor the Senior Deputy Commissioner of Education appealed the Advisory Council’s recommendation. Therefore, pursuant to Subpart 4-1, the Commissioner adopted the Council’s recommendation as his recommendation to the Board of Regents.
Commissioner’s Recommendation: Accredit the Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for a period of six years ending on May 20, 2014.
The attachment to this item sets forth the range of accreditation actions authorized under Subpart 4-1 of the Rules of the Board of Regents.
Attachment
Rules of the Board of Regents
Subpart 4-1, Voluntary Institutional Accreditation for Title IV Purposes
§4-1.2 Definitions.
As used in the Subpart:
(a) Accreditation means the status of public recognition that the Commissioner of Education and the Board of Regents grant to an educational institution that meets the standards and requirements prescribed in this Subpart.
(b) Accreditation action means accreditation, accreditation with conditions, probationary accreditation, approval of substantive changes in the scope of accreditation, and denial, revocation, or termination of accreditation.
(c) Accreditation with conditions means accreditation that requires the institution to take steps to remedy issues raised in a review for accreditation, and provide reports and/or submit to site visits concerning such issues, provided that such issues do not materially affect the institution’s substantial compliance with the standards and requirements for accreditation.
(d) Adverse action or adverse accreditation action means suspension, withdrawal, denial, revocation, or termination of accreditation or preaccreditation.
(q) Probationary accreditation means accreditation for a period of time, not to exceed two years, during which the institution shall come into compliance with standards for accreditation through corrective action.