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The full five-stage process of applying for regional accreditation for the first time can take as long as six or seven years; the self-study phase alone can take up to five years. AUB started the process in the summer of 2000, with the expectation of completing its Self-Study Report by late 2003 and hosting the Middle States Evaluation Team by Spring of 2004. During the process, the University was required to send interim reports to the Commission every six months on its progress in achieving its goals. AUB s first  Interim Report  was filed on February 15, 2002.

(Spring through Fall, 2000)

AUB began the process of applying for accreditation by preparing a Pre-Application Review document and submitting it with a Letter of Intent to Middle States in October of 2000. The document, a compilation of information about AUB in four volumes, substantiated how AUB fulfilled the eligibility requirements established by the Commission. Copies are on file in Jafet Library. To view the table of contents, click on:  PARDoc.Table of Contents

On December 11, 2000, Dr. George Santiago, Jr., Executive Associate Director of the Commission, made the Pre-Application Review Visit to AUB s campus, where he met with trustees, administrators, faculty and students. In February of 2001, the Commission formally confirmed AUB s eligibility to apply for candidacy status.

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(Fall 2000 through Spring 2001)

The application for candidacy was completed over a period of several months with the submission, at the end of February 2001, of a two-volume Self-Assessment Document. Copies are on file at Jafet Library. To see the Table of Contents, 
click on:  SADoc.Table of Contents

On March 29-30, 2001, a four-member accreditation team from Middle States, led by Dr. Judson Taylor, President of the Cortland College campus of the State University of New York (SUNY) and including the Middle States liaison officer, Dr. George Santiago, Jr., visited AUB to review the application for candidacy. Following the team s formal report, the Commission, at its June, 2001 meeting, granted AUB candidacy, with instructions to describe publicly its status as follows:

The American University of Beirut is a Candidate for Accreditation by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (215) 662-5606.

The Candidate for Accreditation is a status of affiliation with a regional accrediting commission which indicates that an institution has achieved recognition and is progressing toward, but is not assured of, accreditation.  It has provided evidence of sound planning, seems to have resources to implement the plans, and appears to have the potential for obtaining its goals within a reasonable time.

Every six months during the candidacy stage, the university was required to make an interim report to the Commission on its progress in attaining goals. AUB s first Interim Report was filed by Provost Peter Heath, who also served as the chair of the Self-Study Steering Committee, on February 15, 2002. Click here to find the  Interim Reports. 

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(Summer 2001 through Spring 2002)

The next stage, planning for the Self-Study by preparing a Design for Self-Study, got underway with the Provost s appointment, in the summer of 2001, of a design group comprised of faculty and administrators, with student representation. The Commission provided two important documents to guide the committee s work: Designs for Excellence, Handbook for Institutional Self-Study, and Characteristics of Excellence in Higher Education: Eligibility Requirements and Standards for Accreditation. Following the comprehensive model recommended for first-time applicants for accreditation, the group developed a preliminary plan that designates fourteen areas to be studied and fourteen  task teams to study them. In the preliminary design, each team is charged with a set of responsibilities and given questions or issues to examine, provided with suggestions of how it may address its issues, and given guidelines for preparing a report of its area of study.

A Steering Committee of trustees, faculty, students and administrators, and comprising the chairs or co-chairs of each of fourteen task teams, was appointed by the President in October, 2001. The 29-member  Self-Study Steering Committee , chaired by Provost Peter Heath and vice-chaired by Associate Provost Waddah Nasr, began preparing the final Design to guide and coordinate the work of all the teams.

In November 2001, Provost Heath and Associate Provost Nasr attended the Middle States-sponsored Self-Study Institute in Philadelphia, a required step in the preparation of the Design. The report to the Steering Committee on the main points covered at the Institute can be found at:  Self-Study Institute Report

Between November 2001 and February 2002, almost 200 faculty members, administrators and students committed themselves to participating on the fourteen task teams over the following two or three semesters.

The final Design document, which was approved by Middle States in June 2002, can be viewed at:  AUB Institutional Self-Study Design.

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(Summer 2002 through Fall 2003)

After AUB s Self-Study Design was approved by Middle States, AUB formally launched its Self-Study, an intensive process of self-examination focusing on fourteen standards that would culminate in the University s final report to Middle States. Developing the report involved several phases that included opportunities for review by all community constituencies. The entire process culminated in the production of AUB s Self-Study Report, January 2004.

The 2002-03 Institutional Survey of AUB community members served as an important source for the report. Three other important documents, namely,  Academic Planning for AUB in the Next Decade , and its two companion documents,  AUB 2004: Companion to Academic Planning  and  External Academic Reviews - Summaries, March 2000, had been prepared earlier by the Board of Deans under the leadership of the provost and president. The first of these documents was updated in April 2002.

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(Early Spring 2004)

Peer review, which begins after the self-study is complete, is the process by which educators from similar organizations scrutinize the institution under review. It is a comprehensive evaluation involving close study of the Self-Study Report generated by the institution and an onsite visit to validate the report s findings and to sharpen its impact with external recommendations.

In 2004, the team recommended that the Commission on Higher Education accredit AUB, as well as follow-up activities to ensure that the University continued to meet Middle States standards. It also provided AUB with some non-binding suggestions for improvement. Its findings may be viewed at  Middle States Visiting Team Final Report - April 2004.

Middle States formally informed AUB s president that the University had been accredited in this letter:  Middle States Commission on Higher Education Accredits the American University of Beirut - June 2004.

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