An evaluation team from the New England Association for Schools and Colleges completed its three-day visit to campus Wednesday and will now begin work on its assessment of the University. The visit is the second step in an 18-month reaccreditation process the University undergoes every 10 years. Prior to the team's visit, the University finished a thorough self-study on topics ranging from diversity of the student body to how faculty salaries have changed over the last decade.

"The team members and I enjoyed our visit to Brandeis," John Sexton, the team's chairman and president of New York University, wrote in an e-mail to the Justice. "Those we met with-administrators, faculty, students and staff-were extremely helpful and forthcoming."

The nine-member NEASC accreditation team, composed of administrators and professors from Brown University, Dartmouth College, New York University, Wesleyan University and Washington and Lee University, visited Brandeis to assess the institution in light of the self-study.

"The team was particularly complimentary about the extent to which the curriculum complements the University's mission and the commitment to a strong liberal arts education that is clearly evident among faculty, staff and students," University President Jehuda Reinharz wrote in an open letter to the community,

Sexton declined to comment on the team's findings until his team's report, which includes recommendations for improvements to the University, is released next spring.

"It's like getting a report card: I think we're going to get mostly good grades," said Alwina Bennett, the assistant dean of student life, who met with the team. "But I think we're like the average Brandeis student: We want a 4.0 and some extra points."

The team's jam-packed visit included meetings with executive administrators, Library and Technology services staff, academic department chairs, graduate school directors and student leaders, Provost Marty Krauss said.

"It was an important time to take stock of all that the University has accomplished since the last visit in 1996 and to help focus on the future," she said.

The evaluation team will report back to NEASC's Commission on Institution of Higher Education, and the process will officially end when the commission submits its report.

Krauss, who oversaw the reaccreditation process with Chief Operating Officer Peter French and Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Jean Eddy, said the NEASC evaluation serves a useful purpose for the University.

Administrators emphasized the University's improvement over the last decade.

"The point of reaccreditation is not to play 'gotcha,' it's to help us improve over the next 10 years," Bennett said.

Krauss said students and staff alike were involved in the reaccreditation process.

"The participation of the community in these visits was outstanding. It was really a community event," Krauss said.

But Bennett disagreed with Krauss:

"A certain part of the community was very engaged in the self-study and the reaccreditation process, [but] we forget that there's a whole 90 percent out there that didn't know it was even going on," Bennett said.

In an open meeting with Glenn Nicholls, vice president for student affairs at Case Western Reserve University and Prof. Nancy Armstrong, chair of Brown's English department, students spoke about ways the University can improve.

Armstrong said during the forum that student voices are vital to the review team's understanding of Brandeis.

"To get a complete picture we really need to hear what [students] have to say about the Brandeis experience," she said.

NEASC accredits over 2,000 private schools ranging from prekindergarten through the university level in New England and abroad.