Superintendent tapped to lead accrediting commission

Dr. Craig J. Tice, Superintendent of Schools

Marcellus Superintendent of Schools Dr. Craig J. Tice has been voted chair-elect of the Middle States Association Commission on Secondary Schools.

A non-governmental, non-profit organization established in 1887, MSA provides leadership in school improvement to its member schools through its accrediting commissions, which include the Commission on Higher Education, the Commission on Secondary Schools and the Commission on Elementary Schools.

Dr. Tice, who has served on the commission’s membership and accreditation committee since his initial appointment in 2009, was elected to the new post Oct. 3. He now will focus his energies and talents in his new role on the finance, policy and planning, and executive committees.

His term as chair-elect will run through 2015, at which time he will assume the post of commission chairman for two years, and then serve as past-chair from 2017 to 2019. He also will serve concurrently as a member of the MSA Board of Trustees from 2015 to 2019.

“I’m honored to be elected to this prestigious post and look forward to working with school leaders from around the world,” Dr. Tice said.

Grades kindergarten through 12 at Marcellus Central School District received accreditation from the Committee on Institution-Wide Accreditation (CIWA) in 2007, thanks in part to the district’s association with MSA, as well as the School Alliance for Continuous Improvement (SACI).

The origins of the Middle States Association can be traced to a meeting of activist college presidents in Harrisburg, Penn., in February 1887. The presidents sought to standardize the qualifications required for admission to college; determine the desired characteristics for college preparatory schools; recommend courses of study for both colleges and schools; foster school and college relationships to each other and to the government; and study and recommend best practices or organization and governance.

Many of the education luminaries of the day contributed to the formation of MSA, including E.H. Magill of Swarthmore, Nicholas Murray Butler of Columbia, President Charles Adams of Cornell, William Pepper of the University of Pennsylvania and Woodrow Wilson of Princeton.

During the early years, the association’s discussion on the standardization of academic credentials led to the creation of the College Board – which administers today’s Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs) – and the Carnegie Unit as ways to assure the quality of academic offerings and the trustworthiness of the participating institutions.

Accreditation, the current mission of the MSA, was introduced in the early 1900s with the formation of the commissions on higher education (1919) at Columbia University and secondary schools (1921) at the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1957, the association obtained a charter of its own from the Board of Regents of the state of New York. In 1975, it changed its name from the Association of the Colleges and Secondary Schools of the Middle States and Maryland to Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.