Dear Faculty and Staff,
As we approach the end of the fall semester and prepare for some much-deserved time for rejuvenation over winter break, I am glad to share with you the news that Bentley has been continued in our accreditation status by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). This encouraging news comes to us after an extensive two-year review process, as is customary for accredited colleges and universities every 10 years.
Accreditation reviews require a great deal of collaboration by many people from all areas of the university. As a part of the renewal process, NECHE representatives and administrators from a peer university reviewed all aspects of our campus ranging from academic programs and student life to our balance sheets and financial standing. We hosted this team on campus in March for a series of interviews with students, faculty, staff, administrators and trustees, and they were encouraged by what they learned about our operations and campus culture.
In their review, the accreditation team shared their positive outlook on a wide range of areas at Bentley. They lauded our smart financial planning and sound investments and commended our strategic planning process for being thorough and inclusive. The team said they look forward to tracking our success in implementing the ambitious Falcons Forward 2030 plan in the coming years. And they recognized the work we have done to create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive campus both through the Racial Justice Task Force and other ongoing efforts in this space.
In reviewing our ability to prepare students for the workforce, they were impressed by the consistently high job placement rates of our graduates and the recognition of that success by industry leaders. They were pleased to learn about the co-curricular student experience we have created on campus with immersive programs like BentleyPlus and those offered through the Bentley Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Center.
NECHE’s confidence in Bentley is reflective of the hard work and commitment of the members of this community. That was abundantly clear in the review team’s final report and in my subsequent conversation with NECHE commissioners. Thank you for all that you do to make Bentley special. I am exceptionally proud of the work that we do here educating the next generation of business leaders, and I am glad to know that others recognize our commitment to our students, too.
A special thanks to those community members who served on our internal accreditation review team for their hard work over the past two years. In particular, I want to acknowledge and thank Andy Aylesworth and Rick Oches, who co-chaired the exhaustive self-study, and Erin Kelley, who assured our success and managed this process every step of the way for the last two years. Accreditation reviews are an extreme commitment of time and resources, and we could not have completed such a successful review process without their collective leadership.
For those interested, you can review the self-study report we prepared for NECHE and their full decision letter on our accreditation webpage. Our next accreditation evaluation has been scheduled for spring 2032 in accordance with the 10-year review cycle.
Congratulations to all on our success in this important review.
Most Sincerely,
President Chrite
