On April 21st, 2022, Chief Academic Officer Yasmine Ziesler, Chief Financial and Operating Officer Sharron Scott, Interim-President of Castleton Thomas Mauhs-Pugh, Board Chair Lynn Dickinson, and I attended a meeting of the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). We presented and responded to questions related to our substantive change request seeking approval for the launch of Vermont State University as an accredited institution on July 1, 2023, and for Dr. Grewal to serve as the President of the three current, separately accredited institutions for the 2022-2023 academic year. NECHE is the regional accreditation body recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education to review and accredit institutions to ensure they provide quality higher education. Accreditation is critically important because it allows institutions to award and distribute federal financial aid.
On Friday, NECHE’s President called to confirm that the substantive change proposal for Vermont State University was approved, as well as Castleton’s ten-year accreditation review. We will be required to submit a couple of reports during AY 2022-2023 to ensure that we are meeting the transformation milestones set forth in the proposal and NECHE will send a visiting team in Fall 2023 to see how things are going. A copy of the substantive change proposal is available on the Transformation website and we will post the Commission’s follow-up letter when we receive it. Thank you to everyone for helping us reach this stage – we are excited to continue our Transformation efforts!