Middle States Commission on Higher Education: Executive Summary 2023

Since its inception, Gallaudet University has been on an innovative journey in creating a visual learning community design centered with American Sign Language and English, also known as bilingual learning. Gallaudet University was founded in 1864 with a charter created by Congress and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln, Gallaudet University is the world’s only bilingual liberal education institution of higher learning for deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, deaf disabled stud

ents, and their allies. In the interest of brevity, hereafter referred to as deaf or deaf and hard of hearing. Gallaudet University, as a private institution with a public mandate: Education of the Deaf Act, not only models best-in-class bilingual higher education, it showcases bilingual learning across the lifespan, beginning with early language acquisition through the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, known as Clerc Center. While the Middle States Commission on Higher Educat

ion’s (MSCHE) accreditation focuses on the University; it can only be understood within the larger public mandate Gallaudet serves. Gallaudet University is a beacon for bilingual learners around the world, with a fierce commitment to democratic principles and the creation of pathways to success and civic engagement. It currently serves 1,410 degree seeking students 42% of whom are of color, and 45% of U.S. undergraduate students have an expected family contribution of $0. Gallaudet ser

ves an additional 309 non-degree seeking students, including English Language Institute, continuing education, and special students. Despite significant challenges in the birth to grade 12 deaf education system, Gallaudet’s graduation and retention rates have improved. With the Fall 2015 cohort, all first-time, full-time freshmen, FTFTF for short, the six-year graduation rate was 58%, and the Fall 2020 cohort has a retention rate of 80%. As with most institutions, Gallaudet’s retention wit

h the fall 2021 cohort dipped slightly - to 73% - due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Gallaudet has historically experienced retention and graduation success, thanks to the passionate, adaptive commitment of our faculty and student success staff. For example, Gallaudet currently has a high-level enrollment taskforce working to assess and improve the design of the enrollment and recruitment programs for the changing demographic of deaf and hard of hearing students. The se

eds preparing Gallaudet to undergo a transformative journey began in 1988 with the “Deaf President Now” protest, which demanded deaf leadership at the helm of this University. This resulted in the first Deaf President and the 51% majority deaf requirement on the Board of Trustees. The second protest in 2006 was on due process and transparency in decision-making with many leaders, hearing and deaf alike, wanting to assure engagement and transparency in decision-making as an institution. T

he presidential search in 2009 provided a road map for effective communication, transparency, and shared governance, learning from the protests of the past. Dr. Alan Hurwitz, who was president at the time of the last accreditation, served until he retired at the end of 2015. In 2014, the Board of Trustees, led by a 51% deaf majority, and through a community engagement process, recognized emerging change efforts throughout the institution. The board highlighted in the University’s presi

dential search process, the need to build upon that momentum with accelerated and expanded transformation. This framing led to the selection of Roberta J. Cordano, who began her presidency in January 2016, with her emphasis that this is “our presidency” honoring the values of the deaf community. The goal of this collective presidency is to respond to the urgency of strengthening educational access, affordability, and quality for deaf, hard of hearing and deafblind learners as well as fo

r those who seek to use sign language in their professional and personal endeavors. With President Cordano’s leadership and community engagement, The Gallaudet Promise: Excellence in Learning and Discovery has become our North Star. Congressional support for Gallaudet University has expanded under President Cordano, signaling continued commitment to the core principle of providing bilingual higher education opportunities for deaf learners. Our students’ experience is shaped by our collec

tive efforts to connect with one another, discover new knowledge, and then to influence our community and the world. In every step of the community’s journey, our transformation has been managed and guided by iterative plans covering spans of two to three years, while being faithful to the overall vision of the Gallaudet Promise once it was unveiled in 2019. The journey and the Gallaudet Promise has been side by side since day one. It is noteworthy that President Cordano is the first to

install a predominantly deaf, and now, fully ASL fluent Executive Team that includes more women and people of color. When the COVID pandemic hit in 2020, this Executive Team agreed to be data-driven, led by core principles and a shared framing of: “How do we use this crisis/opportunity to move Gallaudet towards a more nimble, adaptive future state?” The Executive Team and the faculty independently and collectively determined to continue transformation efforts, even as the University wa

s managing its response to the pandemic. Again, everyone collectively wanted to continue efforts while managing its response ot the pandemic. These efforts included the creation of a CBO position and corresponding team, the redesign of the faculty into five interdisciplinary schools, and equity and belonging work, creating the first and only Center for Black Deaf Studies, CBDS for short, in the world and engaging with Black Deaf leaders inside and outside of Gallaudet to recognize the le

gacy of Louise B. Miller, a champion of Black Deaf education in the early 1950’s during racial segregation. She was a huge advocate for their education. Gallaudet is gaining momentum on many fronts on the transformational journey of “Becoming”, as evidenced in the university-wide transformational efforts described throughout this Self-Study report and in President Cordano’s leadership with shared governance organizations on campus and her speeches to our community. They are witnesses to

the transformation efforts. As mentioned, while MSCHE focuses on the University, The Gallaudet Promise is embedded within the larger context and expectations set forth by Congress, which has tasked Gallaudet University and the Clerc Center with strengthening bilingual education in the United States. Thus, the University and the Clerc Center’s missions, along with The Gallaudet Promise, reflect this unique commitment to teaching, learning, research, and discovery across the lifespan of

deaf learners, while also serving as a resource for professionals who design and deliver deaf education and other professional services for the community such as social work, audiology, and psychology. Our Government Performance and Results Act reporting, GPRA for short, and the Annual Report of Achievements, ARA for short, to the U.S. Department of Education reflect our delivery of education and research endeavors for individuals from birth to the Ph.D. level. Since the previous Self-Stu

dy, Gallaudet has successfully implemented three strategic plans and is guided by The Gallaudet Promise’s three priorities and the bilingual, equity and belonging, and innovation imperatives that address five grand challenges long experienced by deaf and hard of hearing people globally. The Gallaudet Promise includes phrases, benchmarks, and key performance indicators to assess the effectiveness of our programs. At least 70% of the Phase I plan is completed or well underway, with one ye

ar remaining for implementation. The Gallaudet Promise is well integrated throughout the University, including the Executive Team’s prioritization and planning. The Board of Trustees recognizes that the Gallaudet Mission Statement must be updated to include the full scope of leadership for birth through life-long learning. The goal is to complete it as we enter Phase II of the Strategic Plan. Assuring that our commitment to social and restorative justice translates to equitable impact

measured by broadening and increasing engagement including in decision-making input. Given that the mission and vision statements were approved in 2007 and 2009, respectively – and much has changed since then – a full review would be beneficial and is planned as part of Phase Two Strategic Plan development. Gallaudet University is committed to upholding the highest standards of ethics and integrity, holding itself accountable through: accreditation processes, federal reporting, communit

y engagement, and openness to feedback. The current leadership of the University, guided by The Gallaudet Promise and in collaboration with the community, is engaging with deeper change efforts that address inclusion, equity, and language vibrancy within our community of faculty, staff, and students. The ARA, mentioned before, is required by the Education of the Deaf Act, EDA for short, to document Gallaudet’s yearly progress in fulfilling its vision and mission. The ARA and the MSCHE

Self-Study recognize challenges the University faces in meeting its dedication to diversity, equity, inclusiveness, bilingualism, and assessing ethical systems that are in place. Gallaudet University provides one-of-a-kind ethical programming in classes and lectures, that supports a climate of respect, inclusive excellence, and open-mindedness on campus. Gallaudet’s uniqueness as an educational institution, coupled with the rich diversity of its students, faculty, and staff and its loc

ation in the nation's capital contributes to the sui generis nature of its ethical programming. Gallaudet created an Office of General Counsel, OGC for short, to support management of whistle-blower complaints, conflict of interest management, risk management, and compliance oversight and design. These are all included in the scope of the OGC. Due to the close scrutiny by the deaf community, as well as continuing federal oversight by the U.S. Department of Education and Congress, Gallaud

et continually must demonstrate commitment to core values of integrity, honesty, fairness, and transparency in advancing our mission and its impact on student success. The relatively small size of the deaf community can result in multiple roles and relationships that intersect on and off campus. This can lead to misperceptions about fairness, impartiality, and conflicts of interest, even when policies are being followed to the letter. The numerous ethical systems in place at Gallaude

t are decentralized. This can lead to uncertainity in some aspects. The process of making these documents, policies, procedures, and practices readily available bilingually and transparent to campus constituencies could be improved. Expand training on fairness, impartiality, and conflicts of interest to directly address and discuss the unique nature of the Gallaudet community. Identify and implement effective strategies for bilingual communication of ethical policies, protocols, and pr

ocedures in user-friendly formats. Consider whether centralizing the ethical systems in a communication tool, e.g., clearinghouse structure or a dashboard would be helpful. Assessment of the ethics systems at Gallaudet should occur regularly. This information should be provided in a bilingual, transparent, and user-friendly arrangement. Gallaudet University is diligent in maintaining its reputation and its impact as the world’s only higher education institution providing bilingual liberal

education and career development opportunities to deaf and hard of hearing students. We provide a breadth of degree programs and civic engagement learning opportunities, with a commitment to fostering equity and belonging, and preparing students to flourish as leaders, innovators, and change-makers in a diverse global society. Our academic programs are structured in a way that provides clear pathways to degree attainment, guided with student support programs and a coherent learning ex

perience. That sums up our academic programs. We will elaborate on three categories: strengths, challenges, and recommendations. Our deaf students have full access to visual and sign language-based learning in our curricular offerings. Our academic programs are structured to provide clear pathways to degree attainment as outlined in our Academic Catalog and guided by student support programs. Students can progress through their academic career knowing they are preparing to flourish as

leaders, innovators, and change-makers in a diverse global society. Faculty-led transformation from 16 departments to five schools is now in its third year. This is creating the right conditions to advance to the next phase of improving the design and delivery of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary curricular opportunities that will strengthen delivering on the new Institutional Student Learning Outcomes, which were reviewed and adopted in 2021. Gallaudet's ability to implement a c

lear and concise Academic Program Review, APR for short, process has suffered due to loss of institutional knowledge, shifts in strategic plans, and the pandemic. This has caused the ability to implement an APR to suffer. Continuing education is an area that we need to invest in to support growth for online learning across the lifespan. This is attainable through continuing education. The pace of change has been impacted by the magnitude of effort it has taken to return to and sustain fa

ce-to-face instruction, though the motivation is high in Academic Affairs to offer more courses that benefit learners across the lifespan. We recognize there is more we can to do serve the non-signing hard of hearing population of learners in the United States and believe that online learning may be the best pathway to expand our mission impact. Consistency in collecting assessment data, tracking the data, and a clearly outlined plan to move forward is not well documented. To establish an

assessment process that reflects the mission of the institution with the designs and delivery of academic programs, a clearer connection between academic programming, resources, and overall systemic approaches to The Gallaudet Promise is needed. Continue to strategically grow our online presence and opportunities or deaf, hard of hearing and deafblind learners balancing it with the benefits of the unique and irreplaceable language and visual immersion experience gained from being on cam

pus. We need to continue to strategically balance them. For 158 years, Gallaudet University has remained true to its commitment of creating a bilingual environment within which deaf students thrive. Support for the student curricular and co-curricular experience is the foundation of student success and central to the Gallaudet Promise. Our commitment to student success and retention begins with prospective students and, through the Clerc Center, we support the success of deaf learners

from birth to grade 12. Gallaudet offers a wide array of intentionally designed services, initiatives, and processes to help students reach their educational and life goals. Through strategic decision-making, technology partnerships, and guidance from the Division of Student Affairs, Gallaudet established programming that encouraged faculty, staff, and student engagement, reducing student isolation. Although we were successful in achieving a positive experience for students off campus

who took courses remotely during COVID, the pandemic, unfortunately, had a negative impact on our small group of on-campus students. We have transitioned back to campus adapting continually to COVID conditions. We are diligently working to identify innovative approaches to address the dynamics of students, faculty and staff post-pandemic experience. Should we punish student conduct? No. There should be a clear and intentional commitment to restorative justice in the shift towards Stud

ent Accountability and Restorative Practices, SARP for short. The establishment and subsequent support of Student Success Coaches with the intent to provide higher level peer support from recent graduates from Gallaudet University. Student Affairs consistently engages students and acts on their recommendations to improve the campus community experience particularly regarding renovations led by the Community Hub initiative. The Division of Student Affairs' extraordinary effort in creating

teams to support returning our students to campus, post-pandemic. The global pandemic, as with many other higher education institutions, had complex and inconsistent impacts on students, ranging from severe disconnection, inability to focus on academic progress, to a smooth transition to online learning; yet all shared the most severe impact -- the lack of socialization in sign language with their peers, faculty and staff at Gallaudet University. We are facing higher mental health and

well-being destabilization and changing expectations of the “college experience.” The student experience at Gallaudet University is a rich, complex dynamic between curricular and cocurricular activities The difficulty of tracking and assessing this impact will require new approaches to understanding the student experience. Our dormitory facilities, the library and Ely Center, where student organizations are housed, are all aging and in need of upgrades or replacement. Non-academic units

should continue to expand their student outcomes assessment strategies with the use of software and the support of Institutional Research & Effectiveness, IR&E for short, and professional development to enhance co-curricular experiences. Academic Affairs and Student Affairs would benefit from intentional collaboration and planning to increase co-curricular and experiential learning offerings for students and assure timely assessment for impact and improvement. Gallaudet University assesse

s learning for undergraduates and graduate students at multiple levels, starting with the General Education Program. All undergraduate outcomes, learning experiences, and assessments are linked to the University’s Institutional Student Learning Outcomes, ISLO for short, mission, and strategic plan. The University provides support to academic programs through IR&E. IR&E ensures the ISLOs also support the University’s mission, specifically to ensure the intellectual and professional advance

ment of deaf and hard of hearing students and prepare graduates for career opportunities. Gallaudet’s learning experiences nurture our scholars to be civic-minded, bilingually fluent with pride, and career-ready critical thinkers who are digital aware, ethically guided, scientifically literate, and globally engaged. There are key mechanisms available to help faculty improve their pedagogy across programs. These mechanisms are connected to the faculty’s evaluation and are required to be a

dded to their portfolio. Gallaudet provides opportunities for faculty development each semester. New faculty are required to attend an orientation, where they are provided with professional learning opportunities to make them effective in their coursework. Workshops provide faculty with information on innovative theories and practices in higher education, and on how to implement to enhance student performance. The global pandemic necessitated postponing the development of a more comprehe

nsive Academic Affairs plan during Academic Year 2021-2022 to provide stability in leadership. The University needs to provide a framework for reporting how programs improved their curriculum and the rationale for changes. The Assessment Council needs to return to a regular, pre-pandemic meeting schedule and report its findings on whether the University's current assessment system is effective. The incoming provost needs to initiate the development of an academic plan during Academic Ye

ar 2023-2024. There are opportunities for refining our assessment plans to include diversity and bilingualism, as described in the challenges and imperatives in The Gallaudet Promise. Identify appropriate units to manage extended follow-ups with alumni and their employers at the five- and ten-year marks to account for career changes and/or updates, rather than only administering a survey one year after graduation. The University should expand and provide institutional support for the Ass

essment Council and create a culture of assessment across all campus units. The Gallaudet Promise has been successful in realigning and managing Gallaudet’s planning, resource allocation, and assessment processes to ensure that the Phase One Strategic Plan is successfully implemented. The Gallaudet Promise was introduced as a vision for creating a more sustainable and vibrant life experience for deaf and hard of hearing people, and stated our challenges as a community, identified our pr

iority areas as a university, and articulated three imperatives, or core values, to be integrated into all aspects of the University and the Clerc Center. The MSCHE Self-Study Review process allowed us to assess how we are progressing with the five transformational accelerators in Phase One of The Gallaudet Promise. It is important to note that we do not see these transformations happening independently of others. Rather, President Cordano has intentionally created pathways in which eac

h division works together to create a sustainable Gallaudet University. Part of any transformation includes community engagement, and we recognize that a clear outline of division-level plans in coordination with each other is necessary for the long term. The Gallaudet Promise: Excellence in Learning and Discovery provides a clear vision of what we aspire to achieve by 2030 and ensures that how we do the work reflects our community values. The Phase One Strategic Plan articulates our m

easures of progress for work from 2020-2023 and the Envisio platform allows all stakeholders to see this progress. Organizational transformations are guided by various assessments that have been conducted. The Board of Trustees regularly reviews updates on our strategic plan progress. The need for rebuilding data and reporting infrastructure together with leadership skills and capacity has slowed our progress in creating integrated division level plans and more robust and transparent a

nnual reporting to leadership and the community. Lack of integrated communications and clearly outlined approach to the various transformations on campus and thus efforts are not integrated into a coherent, cogent whole for the community. Phase One encouraged but did not require, integrated operational planning. Division leaders produce annual plans and reports that help fulfill The Gallaudet Promise and provide a cogent narrative and shared understanding of the various transformation e

fforts. Phase II will require integrated division-level plans to be designed and developed with improved shared governance oversight, accountability, and transparency in each area of the Complete the development of Key Performance Indicators, KPIs for short, for The Gallaudet Promise. Ensure full implementation of adaptive analysis component of Workday so that financial information is transparent and regularly integrated into planning and decision making. Reinstate the Student Satisfact

ion Inventory, SSI for short, and Employee Satisfaction Survey, ESS for short, and conduct them regularly. Gallaudet University has long embraced shared governance. The University is led by a 21-member Board of Trustees that provides fiduciary oversight and long-term strategic guidance; and the president and Executive Team are responsible for the day-to-day management and guidance of University and Clerc Center operations. Under the leadership of President Cordano, the Executive Team has

evolved to be more inclusive, with leaders who are deaf, female, LGBTQIA, and racially and ethnically diverse. The University Faculty, which includes representation from the Faculty of Color Coalition, FOCC for short, guides the faculty with their curricular and academic realms of responsibility. A key vehicle for shared governance is the Faculty-Administration-Board (FAB) committee, which meets on a regular basis to identify strategic issues that impact Academic Affairs and the Univers

ity. While not formally part of shared governance, the Gallaudet Staff Council, GSC for short, and the Organization for Equity of Staff of Color, OESC for short, play crucial leadership roles, influencing practices and policies throughout the organization. The Student Body Government, SBG, and the Graduate Student Association, GSA, lead student governing bodies and have representation within the shared governance structure. The University Council provides a place where all stakeholders com

e together to wrestle with matters of importance impacting governance and operations. There are intentional transformations happening throughout the campus, from the Board of Trustees to the Executive Team, to the academic structure and program offerings. A COVID team provided leadership and guidance to the Gallaudet community through the pandemic. As Gallaudet continues to adapt to post-pandemic changes, we acknowledge that while there has been progress in shared governance, there are g

aps in faculty/staff engagement that need to be addressed. Most importantly, there is a need for a formative and summative process that centralizes the impact of these University-wide transformations. The composition and experience of the president and senior administrators who are leading the University through its ongoing transformation. The Board of Trustees has evolved to better support the University’s transformation. FAB meets on a regular basis and the relationship between the th

ree shared governance groups is collaborative and effective. Committed investment in technology platforms like Workday, ServiceNow, Blackboard Ultra, and Navigate which can deliver real-time data, reporting and analysis needed to strengthen our operations and programs. While there has been progress in shared governance and strong relationships among leaders, management systems and skills need to improve to deepen faculty and staff communication and engagement. There is a need for syste

matic assessment of the impact of all the changes that have occurred as part of the University-wide transformation processes. Additional support mechanisms are needed for the growth and development of deaf administrators and leaders. Continue to provide guidance and training for administrative leaders, faculty, and the board on shared governance and, include in operations plans goals related to shared governance. Review and revise the University Council Bylaws and establish processes fo

r maintaining meeting agendas, meeting documentation, and community communications. Create and maintain an assessment culture reflected in a systematic assessment plan to assess the progress and impact of transformational efforts throughout the University. Gallaudet continues to explore and define what it means to be an equitable and inclusive community, and to share stories of our learning and evolution. As with other institutions of higher education, Gallaudet University has begun reck

oning with its past. How do we approach this? The Louise B. Miller Pathways and Gardens: A Legacy to Black Deaf Children and the founding of the Center for Black Deaf Studies, CBDS for short. In collaboration with Native American alumni and students, we removed an injurious name from one of our buildings. We continue to explore and define what it means to be an equitable and inclusive community, and to share stories of our learning and evolution. We continue to strengthen our research in

frastructure, recognizing that even as a relatively small University, our knowledge is unique and must be cultivated and shared with the broader world. In this regard, exciting research at Gallaudet includes the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the recognition of sign languages, and research that demonstrates how the brain recognizes language, regardless of whether it is spoken or visual. Aligning with the imperatives from The Gallaudet Promise, we are honoring the

bilingual core of our existence, co-creating equity, and belonging by acknowledging the past and shifting our actions so they reflect our stated values, and innovating for the future with our multicultural, bilingual pedagogy, and way of being. Through the Self-Study process, with the institution and community collectively engaged, our insights and learning provide guidance for our continued progress. We invite you to join us as we continue our transformational journey towards a world

where deaf and hard of hearing learners thrive and contribute to the well-being of all. Join us on the journey!