Inside Higher Ed reported this morning that Mount Saint Mary’s accreditation is being reviewed in light of the recent developments. I find the silence of the board at this point to be extraordinary.
WOW
An out-of-cycle accreditation review is rare. A lot of people outside of academia—and that may, given his background, be the case for Newman, too—don’t get how big of a deal this announcement is, I suspect. It’s a really serious move by peers.
I’m guessing Glenn Close is out of the question now as a commencement speaker this spring . . .
^ nice one @MidwestDad3
No problem. Newman can replace her with Sharon Stone. 
Here is a detailed article how Northeastern gamed their was up the rankings over a 20 year period going from 162 to 47.
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/article/2014/08/26/how-northeastern-gamed-the-college-rankings/
@Zinhead Northeastern “gamed” their way up the rankings by raising admission standards, increasing retention and graduation rates and spending a billion dollars on the campus. They also got USNews to use the 6 year graduation rate due to the unique structure of the co-op program.
That article has been linked here on CC at least 50 times in the past year or so, it is hardly news.
Unlike MSM they do not admit and enroll students only to kick them out and insult them.
- The number of high school graduates is declining for the last few years
- Strong students are increasingly likely to attend a school in the top 150 colleges.
- There is a trend toward Universities and away from LACs.
- High school students are becoming less religious.
All of that would seem to put MSM in a position of being likely to have declining overall class quality. I think they had the right idea in thinking they need to change to stay relevant. However hiring Alfred E Newman to do it was a bad idea.
If we’re talking Alfred E. Newman of Mad Magazine fame…MSM would have been much better off hiring him to turn the college around than this Newman.
At the very least, he’d command far more respect and charisma from everyone on campus…
Just heard from my kid who works in higher ed consulting that Mount St. Mary’s president resigned. Looking for a link…
Thanks for posting @intparent. I’m hoping, like many, that MSMU can put this episode behind it, and move forward in a positive way.
Yes… may the bunnies find their footing and thrive.
^Agree, @midwestDad3. It’s always nice to see integrity win the day.
It seems Middle States review may have been the match lighting the fire under Newman’s seat.
Hmm… The bunnies are populating.
I wonder if the accreditation review will still continue. My guess is that it will… also wonder if he will be the only person leaving over this, depending on their findings. Someone had to design and carry out that survey… and the board may have given some direction on it, too.
“… wonder if he will be the only person leaving over this.”
He could not have done as much as he did without the support of the Trustees. Even if it was his idea, Trustees supporting it shows a stunning lack of judgment on their part. I have to think that some of them will go too.
This is a big enough story that it made a radio show dedicated to economics! Made for an interesting perspective, though, I’d say.
http://www.marketplace.org/2016/02/29/education/mount-st-marys-u-quest-better-numbers