Executive Summary and Comments

Webster University is confident that she meets all of the Criteria required for continued accreditation with The Higher Learning Commission. Our future-oriented planning, our academic outcomes, our strong fiscal viability, our organizational strengths, and our strong leadership all contribute to this confidence. The University does have challenges, and our self-study has documented many of these:

• Diversity
  We celebrate the ethnic diversity of our student body and recognize that we still have much to achieve with respect to the diversity of our faculty. We will continue to foster appreciation and understanding of human diversity in the curriculum and in co-curricular activities, while we implement the strategic plan’s goal of strengthening diversity.
  
• Endowment
  Considerable progress has been made, but an endowment near the size of our annual operational budget would be preferred. This would allow continued reduction in the ratios of our tuition dependency.
  
• Technology
  As with most of higher education, the escalating costs of academic and administrative technology, infrastructure, training, and services has dramatically altered resource allocations across our institutional budgets. Affordability and issues of accountability (which technologies improve learning and teaching) will need to occupy larger amounts of planning.
  
• Campus Master Plan
  While considerable progress has been made with our “visionary” campus master plan, there must be sustained work to bring other components and needs to implementation. The current development campaign will soon bring several important academic buildings to their construction phase (science facilities, Business School and general academic classrooms).
  
• International Vision
  The institution has an international mission with outstanding outcomes. Yet, she wants to do more in global education. This will require partnerships, leadership, and careful work with international (national) accrediting groups, articulation with other institutions, and careful planning. These are challenges we are confident we can meet.
  
• Costs
  Like many institutions, and especially private, tuition-dependent institutions, the cost of tuition has risen significantly over the last decade. This cannot continue at the current escalation rates into the next decade. Unless it is solved, our strong institutional commitments to access and affordability may be at risk. Lower cost structures, financial aid resources, and other processes need to be implemented to temper this issue of affordability.
  
• Strategic Plan
  The new (draft) Strategic Plan will formalize and insure a new level of planning and resource allocation. It is important that the University succeed in implementing these goals and objectives.
  
• Changing Professoriate
  Increased demands on faculty responsibilities will require continued attention to professional development. Examples of challenges include: integration of academic technology into teaching and learning, diversity.