THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

 

TO:	Higher Education and Professional Practice Committee
FROM:	Johanna Duncan-Poitier
SUBJECT:	North Shore – Long Island Jewish Graduate School of Molecular Medicine: Renewal of Institutional Accreditation
DATE:	January 30, 2006
STRATEGIC GOAL:	Goal 2
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

SUMMARY

 

Issue for Decision

 

Should the Board of Regents renew the institutional accreditation of North Shore – Long Island Jewish Graduate School of Molecular Medicine?

 

Reason for Consideration

         
          Required by State regulation

 

Proposed Handling

 

The question will come before the Higher Education and Professional Practice Committee at its February meeting where it will be voted on and action taken.  It will then come before the full Board at its February meeting for final action.

 

Procedural History

 

North Shore – Long Island Jewish Graduate School of Molecular Medicine has applied for renewal of its institutional accreditation by the Board of Regents and the Commissioner of Education.  Pursuant to Subpart 4-1 of the Rules of the Board of Regents, it prepared a self-study and submitted it in October 2005.  A peer review team visited the School in November 2005; the Department sent the draft report of the visit to the School on December 23, 2005.  The School responded to it on January 5, 2006.  On January 11, 2006, the Department sent the final compliance review report to the School and to the Regents Advisory Council on Institutional Accreditation.  At its January 27, 2006 meeting, the Advisory Council reviewed the application, including the self-study, the compliance review report, and related materials and met with representatives of the peer review team and the School.  It unanimously recommended that the Regents renew the School’s accreditation for a period ending in 2013, with two conditions:

 

·        The Graduate School evaluates its integration with the Research Institute in light of its role as an institution of higher education and addresses the degree to which it has a separate identity from the Institute.

 

·        The Graduate School develops a recruitment plan that will result in a sufficient number of completed applications from high quality applicants to enable it to meet its enrollment goal and includes in its annual report a narrative describing its recruitment activities in the preceding year and their results in terms of enrollments.

 

Background Information

 

 The Board of Regents chartered the North Shore – Long Island Jewish Graduate School of Molecular Medicine in 1994 as The Picower Graduate School of Molecular Medicine.  In 2002, it amended the charter to introduce the School’s current name, recognizing that the North Shore – LIJ Health System had assumed the guidance and support formerly provided by The Picower Institute for Medical Research.  North Shore offers a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program in molecular medicine.  The Board has accredited it since 1994.  The last accreditation review was in 2001-02, when the Board renewed accreditation for a period ending March 18, 2006.  At the time of the visit, North Shore had 3 students and 26 faculty members, all full-time. The Health System supports the School financially.  It is in good fiscal condition.  It had $1.2 billion in current assets and $778.4 million in current liabilities in its 2003-04 fiscal year, or about $1.57 in assets for every dollar of liabilities. 

 

Recommendation

 

The Board of Regents  should renew the institutional accreditation of North Shore – Long Island Jewish Graduate School of Molecular Medicine until February 14, 2013, with the stated conditions, because the School has conducted a self-study in relation to the standards for institutional accreditation and undergone a visit by a peer review team that evaluated it against the standards, and because the team, the Department, and the Regents Advisory Council on Institutional Accreditation recommend it.

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

If the Board renews North Shore’s accreditation, the action will be effective immediately.  On that basis, the Department will re-register its program of study pursuant to Part 52 of the Commissioner’s Regulations.  North Shore must submit annual accreditation reports and a self-study at the mid-point of its period of accreditation; these will provide information on its achievement of the conditions.

Information in Support of Recommendation

 

 

I. Institutional Information.  The Board of Regents chartered the North Shore – Long Island Jewish Graduate School of Molecular Medicine in 1994 as The Picower Graduate School of Molecular Medicine.  In 2002, the Board amended the charter to introduce the School’s current name, recognizing that the North Shore – LIJ Health System had assumed the guidance and support formerly provided by The Picower Institute for Medical Research.  North Shore offers a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program in molecular medicine.  This is a program in medical science, not a program to train physicians.  One of the requirements for admission is possession of an M.D. or equivalent degree.  At the time of the visit, North Shore had three students and 26 faculty members, all full-time.

 

The North Shore – Long Island Jewish Health System supports the Graduate School financially.  It is in good fiscal condition.  In its 2003-04 fiscal year, it had $1.2 billion in current assets and $778.4 million in current liabilities, or about $1.57 in assets for every dollar of liabilities.  It increased its unrestricted net assets by about one percent ($37 million) over the preceding fiscal year on $3.8 billion in revenues.

 

The Board of Regents has accredited North Shore since 1994.  The last accreditation review took place in 2001-02, when the Board renewed North Shore’s accreditation for a period ending March 18, 2006.

 

North Shore’s mission is to “provide superior academic training of physicians to discover and understand the causes of human diseases and to rapidly and effectively translate this information into diagnostic and therapeutic solutions.”   

 

II. Peer Review Visit.  In preparation for a visit by a peer review team, North Shore prepared a self-study following the requirements in the Handbook of Institutional Accreditation.  On November 2, 2005, a peer review team, composed of faculty members and administrators from Fordham University and the Mount Sinai School of New York University, and a Department staff member visited the School.  It reviewed the self-study; interviewed faculty members, administrators, and students; reviewed documents and other information available on campus; and reviewed facilities, equipment, and academic resources.

 

The team prepared a draft compliance review report of its findings and recommendations.  The draft report made 2 introductory recommendations and 11 recommendations for actions to be taken in relation to the accreditation standards for assessing student achievement, assessment of institutional success in meeting goals and objectives, requirements for degrees, library and information resources, administrative responsibilities, and admissions.  The team’s position was that these recommendations did not rise to a level that materially affected North Shore’s substantial compliance with the standards and requirements for accreditation; it made the following overall recommendation on accreditation:

 

Peer Review Team Recommendation:  Accreditation with Conditions.  The team recommends that the Regents renew the Graduate School’s accreditation for a period of seven years, with the following conditions:

 

·        The Graduate School evaluates its integration with the Research Institute in light of its role as an institution of higher education and addresses the degree to which it has a separate identity from the Institute.

 

·        The Graduate School develops a recruitment plan that will result in a sufficient number of completed applications from high quality applicants to enable it to meet its enrollment goal and includes in its annual report a narrative describing its recruitment activities in the preceding year and their results in terms of enrollments.

 

The Department transmitted the team’s draft compliance review report to the Graduate School, giving it 30 days to prepare a written response to the draft report.  A written response may correct factual errors in a draft report and may address any other aspect of the report and any recommendations it contains.  In its response, North Shore accepted all the team’s recommendations.  The draft report, North Shore’s response, and the Department’s preliminary recommendation for accreditation became the final compliance review report.

 

III. Regents Advisory Council Review.  As required by Subpart 4-1, the Department transmitted the final compliance review report, including its preliminary recommendation on accreditation action, for consideration by the Regents Advisory Council on Institutional Accreditation.  (The Advisory Council is established in §3.12(d) of the Rules of the Board of Regents “to review applications for accreditation and renewal of accreditation pursuant to Part 4 of this Title, and such other matters as the Department may ask it to review, and make recommendations to the Regents and the commissioner based on its review.”)  The Department’s preliminary recommendation was:

 

Department’s Preliminary Recommendation:  Renew accreditation for a period of seven years, ending in 2013, with the following conditions:

 

·        The Graduate School evaluates its integration with the Research Institute in light of its role as an institution of higher education and addresses the degree to which it has a separate identity from the Institute.

 

·        The Graduate School develops a recruitment plan that will result in a sufficient number of completed applications from high quality applicants to enable it to meet its enrollment goal and includes in its annual report a narrative describing its recruitment activities in the preceding year and their results in terms of enrollments.

 

On January 27, 2006, the Advisory Council met to review North Shore’s application and to make a recommendation to the Board of Regents on its accreditation.  In a public meeting, the Advisory Council met with North Shore’s dean and a representative of the peer review team and its staff coordinator.  Following presentations by North Shore and the team, questions, and discussion, the Advisory Council made the following recommendation to the Board of Regents on accreditation action:

 

Regents Advisory Council Recommendation:  Renew accreditation for a period of seven years, ending in 2013, with the following conditions:

 

·        The Graduate School evaluates its integration with the Research Institute in light of its role as an institution of higher education and addresses the degree to which it has a separate identity from the Institute.

 

·        The Graduate School develops a recruitment plan that will result in a sufficient number of completed applications from high quality applicants to enable it to meet its enrollment goal and includes in its annual report a narrative describing its recruitment activities in the preceding year and their results in terms of enrollments.

 

Attachment A is the final compliance review report considered by the Advisory Council, including the Summary and Department Preliminary Recommendation on Accreditation Action, the draft report, and North Shore’s response.

 

IV. Commissioner’s Recommendation.  North Shore did not appeal the Advisory Council’s recommendation.  Therefore, pursuant to Subpart 4-1, the Commissioner adopted the Advisory Council’s recommendation as his recommendation to the Board of Regents:

 

Commissioner’s Recommendation:  Renew accreditation for a period of seven years, ending in 2013, with the following conditions:

 

·        The Graduate School evaluates its integration with the Research Institute in light of its role as an institution of higher education and addresses the degree to which it has a separate identity from the Institute.

 

·        The Graduate School develops a recruitment plan that will result in a sufficient number of completed applications from high quality applicants to enable it to meet its enrollment goal and includes in its annual report a narrative describing its recruitment activities in the preceding year and their results in terms of enrollments.

 

Attachment B sets forth the range of accreditation actions authorized in Subpart 4-1 of the Rules of the Board of Regents.