A self study released by University administrators last month says the University has made significant progress in improving its physical and academic infrastructure over the previous 10 years.The 123-page report is the result of an 18-month-long self-assessment effort undertaken to prepare for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges' decennial evaluation of the University's accreditation status. NEASC is a consortium of more than 1,800 public and private grade schools, high schools, colleges and universities.

The NEASC re-accreditation process, which takes place every 10 years, assesses the University's adherence to 11 standards, including student learning, financial resources and the University's general academic program.

Supplemented by 266 pages of appendices, the report paints a picture of an institution that has maintained a high level of academic scholarship while overcoming a number of the financial obstacles it faced during the mid-1990s.

In November, a team of faculty and administrators from other accredited schools will visit the University to conduct a review and offer recommendations.

There is little doubt among University administrators that the school will be accredited after the November site visit. But they said the assessment provides an opportunity to examine the University from a broader perspective and to present the results of that review in a polished and comprehensive document.

University Provost Marty Krauss, who oversaw the reaccreditation process along with Chief Operating Officer Peter French and Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Jean Eddy, called the self-study a "compelling story" which will serve the University well during the remainder of the NEASC evaluation.

"I think that, frankly, for people who really want to understand this university, this will be a very good read," she said.

The self-study addresses many of the goals laid out in the University's last NEASC evaluation in 1996, including raising salaries, developing an information technology infrastructure and enhancing the University's financial resources.

Fourteen committees consisting of members of the Brandeis community helped to assemble the report. Each committee drafted a section of the assessment, which fell under one of five themes: information and technology, assessment, public disclosure, quality of the academic program and responsibility and integrity.

Members of the Provost's office compiled the drafts into a comprehensive narrative, which was then edited by several faculty and staff, Krauss said.

French said the report reveals an academic institution very different from the one evaluated 10 years ago.

"I think on all fronts, we're making progress," said French. "There's a lot more to do. I don't want to, by any means, suggest that we can sit back and congratulate ourselves here. But we've made significant progress."

The section of the self-study addressing the school's financial resources shows the University's current financial situation to be markedly improved since 1996. It reports that the University has nearly tripled its endowment to $550 million and has eliminated an $8.5 million operating budget deficit.

Krauss said the improvement of the University's finances has put the school in a "very sustainable place now, where we can actually chart the future as opposed to react to day-to-day events."

One concern from a decade ago focused on faculty salaries, which evaluators said were below the standards levels of at other peer institutions. French said the University has implemented a three-year program to achieve the median faculty salaries average among at the 60 schools in the Association of American Universities by fiscal year 2007.

The University is now "very close to achieving that goal," French said.

The report also cited significant changes with regard to the University's technology infrastructure. Over the past 10 years, the report said, the University has implemented a campus-wide wireless Internet network and utilized programs such as WebCT to help faculty make better of use technology in the classroom.

Krauss noted the self-study's focus on evaluating the quality of academic departments. Following a nationwide trend of increased accountability among institutions for higher education, Krauss said the University has made an effort to review strengths and weaknesses within departments using a variety of data sources such as course evaluations.

"[Academic assessment] is just not something that private liberal arts colleges and universities have done," she said. But with more emphasis on this now, more methods have developed.

For example, the report mentioned a non-credit, voluntary exam given to graduating history majors last spring. History Department Chair Paul Jankowski said it will be used to assess the department's effectiveness in teaching history to undergraduates.

French said he found the exercise in self-evaluation to be a productive one from which the University will benefit greatly gain perspective.

"At times, when you're in these kinds of [administrative] jobs, you get so consumed by the day-to-day that it's very hard to take a step out and really be thoughtful about where you're going," he said. "That's one of the reasons why this is a big deal.