As Bowdoin’s decennial reaccreditation review by the New England Commission on Higher Education (NECHE) approaches, the 2026 Reaccreditation Committee hopes to give the community a chance to learn about the process and provide input on both Bowdoin’s accomplishments and areas for improvement. President Safa Zaki announced the reaccreditation effort, which will feature a comprehensive self-study by the College and culminate in a three-day campus visit by a NECHE-sponsored visiting team in November 2026, in an email to the campus community on September 12.

This week, the committee held two forums to gather input from faculty, students and staff as it prepares a self-study to share with NECHE next year. On Tuesday afternoon, a forum was held in Moulton Union by Senior Vice President for Institutional Research, Analytics and Consulting Tina Finneran and Senior Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs Jen Scanlon. Earlier in the month, Finneran announced the forums and invited people to come learn and give feedback on the reaccreditation process in an email to the campus community.

Finneran and Scanlon worked together on the reaccreditation committee during the last reaccreditation process ten years ago. Scanlon shared that they are ready for anything this time around.

“Well, [Finneran] and I worked together really well on behalf of the College, and we thought we would make a good team again to do this important work that’s a combination of really gathering a lot of data and thinking really hard about who we are, what we do, how we can improve it,” Scanlon said. “And so we were very happy to take this [on] again.”

According to Scanlon, the forums help keep the Bowdoin community involved in a crucial process to the College, while also benefiting the reaccreditation committee by allowing them to hear various perspectives. Scanloan emphasized the value of this input.

“We take this process seriously, and we hope other members of the community do as well, because it is both an opportunity to showcase who we are and why the public should have confidence in what we do,” Scanlon said.

Students can also share their experiences throughout the reaccreditation process, ensuring that the College’s self-assessment includes the lived experience of those it serves most directly. Lucia Galdamez ’28, one of the students taking part in the process, highlighted her experience.

“Being part of the committee has given me concrete insight into what the College is doing right as an institution, and the ways it could grow into the future,” Galdamez said. “As a committee, we are broken into smaller groups, and the people that I get to work with are curious and do want a student perspective. I get to share my experience here and what the College is doing for me and my peers.”

Since Bowdoin’s last reaccreditation, the landscape of higher education has evolved, shaped by policy changes during the Trump administration and shifts in accreditation standards nationwide.

Other changes from the last process include a decrease in the number of accreditation standards used from nine to five, altering how institutions like Bowdoin structure their self-studies and committee assignments.

“We ask ourselves ‘What is it that we’re doing?’” Scanlon said. “‘Are we doing it well?’ And then what we propose to do so those frameworks are in all of our minds as we undertake the work.”

Professor of Mathematics Adam Levy was appointed to the committee by the Committee on Governance and Faculty Affairs and is on a subcommittee that deals with institutional resources. This is his first year taking part in the process.

“[The committee wants] to show that we’re continuing to provide ‘sufficient human, financial, information, physical and technological resources and capacity to support’ our mission,” Levy wrote in an email to the Orient.

The committee will continue hosting forums throughout the academic year and collecting feedback from students, faculty and staff before submitting its final self-study to NECHE in 2026.