The “Characteristics of Excellence in Higher Education” are a set of 14 standards with which UMB must demonstrate compliance to maintain accreditation with MSCHE. The standards focus on two fundamental questions:

  1. Are we, as an institutional community, achieving what we want to achieve?
  2. What should we do to improve our effectiveness in achieving our fundamental aims?

Standards Focusing on Institutional Context

  1. Standard 1: Mission and Goals
    The institution’s mission clearly defines its purpose within the context of higher education and indicates who the institution serves and what it intends to accomplish. The institution’s stated goals, consistent with the aspirations and expectations of higher education, clearly specify how the institution will fulfill its mission. The mission and goals are developed and recognized by the institution with the participation of its members and its governing body and are used to develop and shape its programs and practices and to evaluate its effectiveness.
  2. Standard 2: Planning, Resource Allocation, and Institutional Renewal
    An institution conducts ongoing planning and resource allocation based on its mission and goals, develops objectives to achieve them, and utilizes the results of its assessment activities for institutional renewal. Implementation and subsequent evaluation of the success of the strategic plan and resource allocation support the development and change necessary to improve and to maintain institutional quality.
  3. Standard 3: Institutional Resources
    The human, financial, technical, physical facilities, and other resources necessary to achieve an institution’s mission and goals are available and accessible. In the context of the institution’s mission, the effective and efficient uses of the institution’s resources are analyzed as part of ongoing outcomes assessment.
  4. Standard 4: Leadership and Governance
  5. Standard 5: Administration
  6. Standard 6: Integrity
    In the conduct of its programs and activities involving the public and the constituencies it serves, the institution demonstrates adherence to ethical standards and its own stated policies, providing support for academic and intellectual freedom.
  7. Standard 7: Institutional Assessment

Standards Focusing on Educational Effectiveness

  1. Standard 8: Student Admissions and Retention
  2. Standard 9: Student Support Services
  3. Standard 10: Faculty
  4. Standard 11: Educational Offerings
  5. Standard 12: General Education
  6. Standard 13: Related Educational Activities
  7. Standard 14: Assessment of Student Learning