Institutional News

President Silver elected to serve on NEASC

Mariko Silver, president of Bennington College, has been elected to serve a three-year term on the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), beginning July 1.

NEASC was established in 1885 and is the oldest accreditation body for higher education in the US. It was founded by Charles Elliot of Harvard, and consists of member institutions from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode, Island, and Vermont.

President Silver was elected to NEASAC by one of its four commissions, the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education. CIHE is an international body that oversees 232 member and candidate institutions in the six New England States and 11 institutions abroad (in Greece, Bulgaria, Lebanon, Morocco, Switzerland, and Bermuda).

As one of 27 commissioners, she will be responsible for evaluating and reviewing member institutions’ accreditations, ensuring the schools meet the standards for effective higher education and that their students are able to receive federal financial aid dollars.

President Silver has been involved in NEASC since she assumed the helm of Bennington College in 2013, including chairing the accreditation review of a member institution in April 2016.

The Commission on Institutions of Higher Education meets four times each academic year. The next annual meeting of NEASC will take place in December 2016 in Boston.