In order to foster the Wilmette Institute’s continued growth toward accreditation as a recognized institution of higher education, the National Spiritual Assembly recently appointed a four-person Academic Advisory Board. Such a Board is also a standard part of the operation of most colleges and universities, and is expected by most accrediting commissions.
The letter from the National Spiritual Assembly explained that “the Board will be responsible for consulting on the Institute’s structure, academic standards, and curriculum and for making recommendations to its Executive Committee (which acts on behalf of this Assembly in our function as the Institute’s Board of Trustees) in a meeting to be held twice annually (possibly via the Zoom videoconferencing application).”
The Executive Committee (Jeff Albert, Robert Stockman, and Chitra Golestani) was also appointed at the same meeting. The members of the Academic Advisory Board are Erin Murphy-Graham, Michael Penn, Derik Jalal Smith, and June Manning Thomas.