By Rahul Mehra '03

Every aspect of Deerfield Academy is being evaluated as part of a re-accreditation process that occurs every ten years. The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) is conducting the study. Around 75 percent of Deerfield's faculty has participated in writing reports pertaining to the questions asked by the association.

Deerfield is required to undergo this re-accreditation process by the NEASC. The sub-group dealing with Deerfield is the Commission on Independent Schools (CIS).

"The ten-year self-study will be completed by late summer. The rough draft was already provided to the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees over Trustees' Weekend. The final document will be between 150 to 200 pages," said history teacher Chip Davis, who is chairman of the self-study.

The completed self-study report will be handed over to a visiting comittee of distinguished educators. This ten-member committee will arrive on campus in early October for a period of three days. Tyler Tingeley, Headmaster of Phillips Exeter Academy, will head Deerfield's visiting committee.

Mr. Davis defined the goal of the re-accreditation process as ensuring that "we do what we claim to do." Assistant Headmaster for Alumni and Developent David Pond said, "Alumni like to know that the school is evaluated on a regular basis by peers highly respected in the field of education."

Most of Deerfield's faculty has been affiliated with one or more of the nine sub-committees of the study. These nine committees include: Mission Committee, Students and Parents, Program Committee, Professional Staff, Governance, Institutional Issues, Administration and Faculty, Residentioal Life and Culture and Climate. Overseeing the work of these nine committees is the Steering Committee. Mr. Davis will be responsible for finalizing the report.

The Program Committee is a vital part of the study and constitutes a third of the organization. It reviews reports on Deerfield's curricular and co-curricular offerings. The Institutional Issues committee deals with the legal and technoligical issues pertaining to the school along with an evaluation of the Physical Plant.

On being asked about the importance of student responses in the report, Mr. Davis said, "No student input is required in the report, but we have taken the liberty to add student responses in the Culture & Climate Committee which is headed by Tom Heise and Sonja O'Donnell."

Based on the analysis of the report, the visiting committee will offer recommendations for improvements of specific aspects of Deerfield. If suggested, these recommendations have to be implemented by the school within two years.

As published in the May 22, 2002 issue of the Deerfield Scroll, the monthly newspaper of Deerfield Academy.