Accreditation Committee May 4, 2015 Attending: Herman Marshall, David Burmaster, John Covert, Jacob Oppenheimer, Bob Ferrara, and Ernie Sabine I. Rubric results: We reviewed plots generated by Ernie using excel from the rubric surveys filled out after this year's accreditation reviews. There were a few interesting observations from a quick survey of the plots. First, the average categorization level ("level") was very close to 3.0 for all categories, regardless of whether it was by the review team or the review attendees. It was relatively straightforward to find outliers amongst the living groups as a result. Second, there were a few clear cases of living groups with poor levels (close to 2 in all categories) and others (especially sororities) with excellent levels (near 4). Third, for a few groups, the attendees assigned significantly higher levels for a specific category or two than did the review team. Finally, there were groups which with levels near the average for all but one or two categories. We briefly discussed how one might use the rubric in future reviews. Suggesions included replacing large parts of the BDF and completing the rubric surveys before reviews so that they can be used in reviews. We will take up this topic again during the summer meetings. Action Items: 1- Ernie will separate results based on type of living group, a clear factor that correlates with assessment level. 2- All will examine the results in more detail so that we may consider how to improve the rubric cases that exemplify category levels. 3- Herman will draft an overview of the rubric for publication to the AILG web page. The plot showing the average levels in each category will also be posted. 4- John will provide the all-FSILG average graphic to each individual living group and its corresponding graphic and data. These can be sent directly to each living group or posted to their lockers. II. 990-T Letter: After a meeting with Ron Siegel, John proposed that the Accreditation committee send a letter that he drafted to all FSILGs. The letter would express the concern that FSILGs are not properly reporting income from summer (or any other) boarders via the 990-T (federal tax form) and the M990-T (for MA). The topic was highlighted in Bill Heitlin's presentation at the Treasurer 101 course sponsored by the AILG during IAP in 2006. The committee decided not to send a letter with details of the topic but that we could send a simple e-mail message to point out the issue and recommend that FSILGs seek knowledgeable tax advice from a CPA. Action Item: 5- Herman will circulate a draft of the e-mail to send to mitailg for everyone to comment on before it is sent to the community. III. Review Status: All the reports from March reviews are done and have been sent to the dean. None have been sent yet from reviews in April. Reviewer recommendations are not final but it is likely that SN, BTP, and DTD will receive reservations. We briefly examined the status of other the other reviews to compare with FSILG office perceptions. IV. Review dates in Fall 2015: We selected the following dates: 10/3, 10/17, 11/7, and 11/21 for fall reviews. V. Accreditation Committee Annual Report: John will draft the report. We discussed items to included in the highlights of the year. For example, we had a good response to calls for volunteers. However, we also had a higher dropout rate than usual, especially close to review dates. The rubric survey system was set up and implemented on a trial basis. The FSILG office asked for 3 "early" reviews, which took place before the nominal 2 yr period between recommendations for accreditation without reservations. We should point out that the accreditation program remains as the most effective FSILG community education tool and that the community has weathered the fallout from a storm of reports of substandard off-campus housing. Action Item: 6- John will provide a draft of the annual report within 2 weeks so that we can flesh out the sections providing highlights of the year. VI. Next Meeting: The next meeting will be on 6/1/15 at 2:40 in W59. At this meeting, we will work on the Annual Report and begin the process of reviewing the BDF with an eye toward reducing it.