NECHE is recognized as the leading accreditation agency for colleges and universities in the six New England States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Elizabeth Blumberg, Vice President for Student Development and Dean of Students, Standard 3 (Students) co-Chair
Marina Bograd, Professor of Engineering, Standard 4 (Academic Program) co-Chair
Robert Bolivar, Professor of Automotive Technology, Standard 9 (Integrity & Transparency) co-Chair
Marcus Edward, Vice President for Administration and Finance, Standard 7 (Institutional Resources) co-Chair
Heidi Getchell-Bastien, Associate Professor of Legal Studies and Government, Standards 6 and 8 (Teaching & Learning, Educational Effectiveness) co-Chair
Carolyn Gutilla, Associate Professor of Communication, and Standard 5 (Students) co-Chair
Courtney Jackson, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Standard 4 (Academic Program) co-Chair
Kara Lucciola, Professor of Legal Studies, Standard 7 (Institutional Resources) co-Chair
Lisa MacDonald, Director of Equity Compliance, Standard 9 (Integrity & Transparency) co-Chair
Susan Maggioni, Assistant Provost, Standards 6 and 8 (Teaching & Learning, Educational Effectiveness) co-Chair
Kathryn McGrath, Professor of English, Strategic Plan Retention Committee co-Chair
Deborah O’Dowd, Professor of Nursing, Standard 1 (Mission & Purpose), Standard 2 (Evaluation and Planning), Standard 3 (Organization and Governance) co-Chair
Denise Pruitt, Professor & Department Chair of Health Studies, Strategic Plan Recruitment Committee co-Chair
Lisa Slavin, Vice President for Enrollment Management, Strategic Plan Recruitment Committee co-Chair
Jeremy Solomon, Vice President for Marketing, Communications, and Advancement, Standard 1 (Mission & Purpose), Standard 2 (Evaluation and Planning), Standard 3 (Organization and Governance) co-Chair
Richard Williams, Dean for Student Success & Strategic Initiatives, Strategic Plan Retention Committee co-Chair
Jeremy Solomon, Marketing, Communications, and Advancement, co-Chair
Deborah O’Dowd, Nursing, co-Chair
Perry Beardsley, History*
Debra Brandy, Financial Aid
Scott Fitzgerald, Automotive Technology
Deb Georgopolous, Administration & Finance
Megan Schultze, Campus Safety
Jean Supel, Institutional Effectiveness
Meredith Watts, Mathematics**
Tamika Williams, Advisement
* Former member
** Former co-Chair
Marina Bograd, Professor of Engineering, co-Chair
Courtney Jackson, Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost, co-Chair
Roberta Allison, Hospitality Management
Phara Boyer, Health Science Admissions
Lynne Davis, Health Sciences
John Donato, English
Julie Ginn, Career Services
Larry Goff, Psychology
Chitra Javdekar, STEM*
Nina Keery, Humanities and Social Sciences
Tom Niemi, Business
David Protano, Automotive Technology and STEM
Tony Sena, Computer Science*
Matthew Sharon, Student*
Jose Silva, Nursing*
Jean Supel, Institutional Effectiveness
Meredith Watts, Mathematics
* Former member
Elizabeth Blumberg, Vice President for Student Development & Dean of Students, co-Chair
Carolyn Gutilla, Professor of Communications, co-Chair
Karen Akukwe, Advisement
Kate Basch, Career Services
Phoebe Bustamante, Accessibility Services
Clarissa Codrington, English
Katie Cronmiller, Student Engagement
DeJour Hollins, Students of Color Program
Alicia Layne, Nursing
Maria Martinez Balanzar, Student*
Jackie Rodriguez, Financial Aid
Jeremy Solomon, Marketing, Communications, & Advancement
Jeanie Tietjen, English
Fielding Vaughn, Athletics
Rhian Waterburg, Student Development*
* Former member
Heidi Getchell-Bastien, Professor of Legal Studies, co-Chair
Sue Maggioni, Assistant Provost, co-Chair
Alexandra Barone, Biology
Barbara Bernard, Academic Achievement Center
Mena Fenwick, Student*
Catherine Gildae, Institutional Effectiveness
Dolores Goyette, Surgical Technology *
Sue Hamilton, Mathematics
Nina Keery, Humanities and Social Sciences
Chris LaBarbera, Associate Provost**
Sean McCarthy, Academic Achievement Center
Keith McWilliams, Automotive Technology
Tim Rivard, Library
Rita Rzezuski, Early Childhood
Bernie Sibuma, Educational Technology
Halye Sugarman, Business and Professional Studies
Matt Walsh, English**
* Former member
** Former co-Chair
Marcus Edward, Vice President for Finance & Administration, co-Chair
Kara Lucciola, Professor of Legal Studies, co-Chair
Deni Budd, Marketing
Lauren Curley, Operations
Mishawn Davis-Eyene, Advancement
Joe DeLisle, Facilities
Mike Lyons, Information Technology
Bridget Madden, Library
Adam Nelson, Athletics
Dan Pace, Human Resources
Nicole Seifert, Registrar’s Office
Dennis Walsh, Biology
Andy Wrobel, Business
Bob Bolivar, Professor of Automotive Technology, co-Chair
Lisa MacDonald, Director of Equity Compliance, co-Chair
Rebecca Aldrich, Campus Safety
Yvonne Anthony, Grants Development
Karen Britton, President’s Office
Paul Byrnes, Facilities
Liz Cooper, Marketing
Ming Covitz, Biology
Phil DiBlasi, Campus Safety
Alex Jean-Jacques, Financial Aid
Laura Lavallee, Registrar
Melissa Mack, Sociology
John Martin, Veterans Affairs
Julie Schleicher, Student Engagement
Denise Pruitt, Professor & Program Chair of Health Studies, co-Chair
Lisa Slavin, Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management, co-Chair
Luz Castro, Admissions
Colleen Coffey, College Planning Collaborative
Junianny Dos Santos, Advancement
Yesmirach Hopkin, Student
Stephanie Jean-Pierre, Financial Aid
Ming Ju, Institutional Effectiveness
Valerie Kapilow, STEM
Nancy Levine, Psychology
Alison McCarty, Admissions
Claudia Ortiz, Admissions
Adam Nelson, Athletics
Anthony Neptune, Student Development
David Protano, Automotive Technology
Jeremy Solomon, Marketing, Communications, and Advancement
Kathryn McGrath, Professor of English, co-Chair
Richard Williams, Dean for Student Success & Strategic Initiatives, co-Chair
Mykayla Cunha, Student
Courtney DeGeorge, English
Valerie Kapilow, STEM
Heather Knuth, Math
Lisa MacDonald, Equity Compliance
Sue Maggioni, Assistant Provost
Lynn Moore, Chief Diversity Officer
Joseph Murphy, EMT
Tom Niemi, Business
Erika Reyes, College Planning Collaborative
Azalea Rodas, Student*
Sarah Salerno, Advising
Jean Supel, Institutional Effectiveness
* Former Member
The institution’s mission and purposes are appropriate to higher education, consistent with its charter or other operating authority, and implemented in a manner that complies with the Standards of the New England Commission of Higher Education. The institution’s mission gives direction to its activities and provides a basis for the assessment and enhancement of the institution’s effectiveness.
The institution undertakes planning and evaluation to accomplish and improve the achievement of its mission and purposes. It identifies its planning and evaluation priorities and pursues them effectively. The institution demonstrates its success in strategic, academic, financial, and other resource planning and the evaluation of its educational effectiveness.
The institution has a system of governance that facilitates the accomplishment of its mission and purposes and supports institutional effectiveness and integrity. Through its organizational design and governance structure, the institution creates and sustains an environment that encourages teaching, learning, service, scholarship, and where appropriate, research and creative activity. It demonstrates administrative capacity by assuring provision of support adequate for the appropriate functioning of each organizational component. The institution has sufficient autonomy and control of its programs and operations consistent with its mission to be held directly accountable for meeting the Commission’s Standards for Accreditation.
The institution’s academic programs are consistent with and serve to fulfill its mission and purposes. The institution works systematically and effectively to plan, provide, oversee, evaluate, improve, and assure the academic quality and integrity of its academic programs and the credits and degrees awarded. The institution sets a standard of student achievement appropriate to the degree or certificate awarded and develops the systematic means to understand how and what students are learning and to use the evidence obtained to improve the academic program.
Consistent with its mission, the institution sets and achieves realistic goals to enroll students who are broadly representative of the population the institution wishes to serve. The institution addresses its own goals for the achievement of diversity among its students and provides a safe environment that fosters the intellectual and personal development of its students. It endeavors to ensure the success of its students, offering the resources and services that provide them the opportunity to achieve the goals of their educational program as specified in institutional publications. The institution’s interactions with students and prospective students are characterized by integrity and equity.
The institution supports teaching and learning through a well-qualified faculty and academic staff, who, in structures and processes appropriate to the institution, collectively ensure the quality of instruction and support for student learning. Scholarship, research, and creative activities receive support appropriate to the institution’s mission. The institution’s faculty has primary responsibility for advancing the institution’s academic purposes through teaching, learning, and scholarship.
The institution has sufficient human, financial, information, physical, and technological resources and capacity to support its mission. Through periodic evaluation, the institution demonstrates that its resources are sufficient to sustain the quality of its educational program and to support institutional improvement now and in the foreseeable future. The institution demonstrates, through verifiable internal and external evidence, its financial capacity to graduate its entering class. The institution administers its resources in an ethical manner and assures effective systems of enterprise risk management, regulatory compliance, internal controls, and contingency management.
The institution demonstrates its effectiveness by ensuring satisfactory levels of student achievement on mission-appropriate student outcomes. Based on verifiable information, the institution understands what its students have gained as a result of their education and has useful evidence about the success of its recent graduates. This information is used for planning and improvement, resource allocation, and to inform the public about the institution. Student achievement is at a level appropriate for the degree awarded.
The institution subscribes to and advocates high ethical standards in the management of its affairs and in its dealings with students, prospective students, faculty, staff, its governing board, external agencies and organizations, and the general public. Through its policies and practices, the institution endeavors to exemplify the values it articulates in its mission and related statements. In presenting the institution to students, prospective students, and other members of the public, the institutional website provides information, including information about student success, that is complete, accurate, timely, readily accessible, clear, and sufficient for intended audiences to make informed decisions about the institution.
Q: What is NECHE?
A: The New England Commission of Higher Education (formerly the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, NEASC) is one of seven accrediting commissions in the United States that provide institutional accreditation on a regional basis. Accreditation is voluntary and applies to the institution as a whole. The Commission accredits approximately 220 institutions in the six-state New England region as well as several American-style institutions overseas. The Commission is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education as a reliable authority on the quality of education for the institutions it accredits.
Q: What is accreditation and why is it important?
A: Accreditation is a status that provides assurance to prospective students, their families and the general public that an institution meets clearly stated Standards for Accreditation and that there are reasonable grounds to believe the institution will continue to meet those standards in the future.
MassBay Community College will undergo a comprehensive evaluation visit on April 6-9, 2025 by a team representing the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) as part of its 10-year reaccreditation process.
For the past year and a half, MassBay has been engaged in a process of self-study, addressing the Commission’s Standards for Accreditation. An evaluation team will visit the institution to gather evidence that the self-study is thorough and accurate. The team will recommend to the Commission a continuing status for the institution. Following a review process, the Commission itself will take the final action.
The public is invited to submit comments regarding the institution to:
Public Comment on MassBay Community College
New England Commission of Higher Education
3 Burlington Woods Drive, Suite 100
Burlington, MA 01803-4514
Email: info@neche.org
Public Comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of the institution. The Commission cannot settle disputes between individuals and institutions, whether those involve faculty, students, administrators, or members of other groups. Comments will not be treated as confidential and must include the name, address, and telephone number of the person providing the comments. Public Comments must be received by April 9, 2025. The Commission cannot guarantee that comments received after that date will be considered.