A design for self-study is a blueprint for the self-study process and for the final self-study report. It guides the steering committee and working groups in their discussion, research, and writing, and the self-study report builds on the original design document. Included in the design, among other elements, are the guidelines for the Self-Study working groups that define their tasks and provide guidance for their research and reporting.
The Steering Committee Co-Chairs synthesized the various written products of the design into a full Self-Study Design document. Then, the Self-Study Design was shared whole cloth with the Steering Committee, and subsequently with Fr. Peter Donohue, President of Villanova University, for review and edit. Questions, methodologies, report library, and narrative text were planned and honed at each level. A draft was sent electronically and in print to Villanova University's Middle States liaison. On April 23 our Middle States liason shared comments with the Steering Committee. No major substantive changes were requested, however some edits were suggested. A second draft, incorporating these edits, was submitted in early May, 2009:
