Middle States Accreditation Team Report

April 24, 2006

TO:   Faculty and Staff Colleagues

FR:   President Patricia McGuire

RE:  Middle States Team Report

I am pleased to share with you the final report from our Middle States visiting team.  I hope you agree with me that the visiting team did a remarkable job assessing and interpreting Trinity at this critical moment in out institutional history.  I know they deeply appreciated your candor, commitment and creative approaches to our many challenges.  At one place in the report the team urges Trinity to �celebrate yourselves� for our many accomplishments even as we take up the daily challenges of accomplishing our mission here.

My gratitude to all who made this splendid report possible is immense.  This is the finest Middle States team report for Trinity that I have read over the years, and this achievement is collective � the team rightly praises our facilities staff and talented financial and operations team, our IT and student services groups, along with our faculty and others whose shared energy and talent make the mission of Trinity a reality for out students.  The sense of Trinity as a truly mission-driven institution flows through this report, a point of pride for all of us.

This report is not the end.  As the team rightly conveys through affirming our own Self-Study recommendations and the collegial suggestions they make, Trinity's greatest work is ahead of us.  We now move into serious strategic planning to ensure that Achieving Trinity 2010 stays on schedule and meets our large institutional goals.  With this great report and the fine Self-Study that undergirds this document, we have the strongest possible platform to move ahead with our plans for new programs, new facilities and the large fund raising effort that will make all of that a reality.

For now, thanks to all who contributed so much to our success.  Let's enjoy this moment ---let's celebrate Trinity!