Post by aggieengr on Feb 7, 2006 10:16:20 GMT -5
www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/nccu207
N.C. Central Scrambles to Regain Business School's Accreditation
Date: Monday, February 06, 2006
By: Jean Rogers, Black College Wire
Over a month after a deadline misstep cost North Carolina Central University School of Business its accreditation and its dean, the university administration is expecting to be reaccredited sooner than originally thought.
The school lost its accreditation from the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs when former dean Benjamin Newhouse failed to apply for reaccreditation on time. The school has started the process of renewing accreditation.
According to Chancellor James H. Ammons, it is expected to take less than a year for the school to renew its accreditation, instead of the 12 to 18 months the school had anticipated.
Some students were shocked when they received letters from the university during the Christmas break notifying them about the loss of accreditation.
"My initial reaction was that my degree in business was not going to be as acceptable as other business degrees at other colleges," said Audrey Long, a senior who received her letter Dec. 23.
But Ammons was optimistic about a speedy reaccreditation
He said the school became a candidate for accreditation in seven days, a process that usually takes three months.
He also said the director of the accreditation agency had been assigned to mentor interim dean Bijoy Sahoo.
Sahoo is working on the self-study that is expected to be ready for submission to the accrediting group by March.
Once that is submitted, it will be evaluated by the agency, then a committee is to visit the School of Business before preparing its recommendations.
"We are hoping to have a site visit this spring," said Ammons.
According to Steve Parscale, director for the accrediting group, the self-study is 95 percent complete.
"I would say that the average school takes 18 months to three years" to get accredited, "but since NCCU was previously accredited, they will be able to regain their accreditation much sooner than that," said Parscale.
At a Jan. 10 meeting in the B.N. Duke Auditorium, Ammons, Jones and Sahoo answered students' and parents' questions, with an energetic and soft-spoken Sahoo vowing to save the university from embarrassment.
"We didn't lose our accreditation, we allowed it to expire," Sahoo said. "We make a commitment today that we will regain accreditation with ACBSP."
The School of Business officially lost its accreditation Dec. 15 when Newhouse failed to submit the necessary papers with ACBSP -- papers that he had already been given a year's extension to submit.
In a university news release, Newhouse said in his defense that School of Business leaders were busy working toward another accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate and Schools of Business International and thus did not respond to the ACBSP requests for information.
"Having the approval of AACSB, widely considered to be the most respected international accreditation, gives a degree of prestige to a program. ACBSP, although respected, is a younger and less well-known organization than AACSB," according to Business Week magazine.
In a ferocious response to the misstep, the university swiftly replaced Newhouse with Assistant Provost Sahoo on an interim basis.
Newhouse, who could not be reached for comment, was given eight months of administrative leave. He is to return as a tenured professor in the business school while the university searches for a new dean.
The university hopes to have a permanent dean by June.
Ammons has asked the provost to work with the deans of every accredited program to develop a master calendar showing important renewal deadlines.
"Protocol, and how we govern in terms of the university, is critical," Jones said.
In the past, letters concerning accreditation went to the dean of each accredited department. Now they will go straight to the chancellor and the provost.
"I can assure you that we will not have this happen again," said Ammons.
Despite the loss of accreditation, Kristen Hunter, Miss School of Business, was upbeat and optimistic that it would not affect students in their job hunts.
"For the most part, I would say that persons should educate themselves before getting upset," Hunter said. "The School of Business did not receive discipline-specific accreditation until 1994, so from 1910 until 1994, thousands of people graduated and were successful. What students should focus on is making the most of their degree and capitalizing on opportunities to enhance their professional development."
Ammons also said the accreditation issue would not hinder students.
"I really believe that if a student from NCCU's School of Business goes to an interview and shows their skill, then that will carry them," Ammons said.
The administration plans to send students, parents and faculty a monthly update on the accreditation status.
This is very unlike NCCU. I imagine some heads are going to roll after it's all said and done.
N.C. Central Scrambles to Regain Business School's Accreditation
Date: Monday, February 06, 2006
By: Jean Rogers, Black College Wire
Over a month after a deadline misstep cost North Carolina Central University School of Business its accreditation and its dean, the university administration is expecting to be reaccredited sooner than originally thought.
The school lost its accreditation from the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs when former dean Benjamin Newhouse failed to apply for reaccreditation on time. The school has started the process of renewing accreditation.
According to Chancellor James H. Ammons, it is expected to take less than a year for the school to renew its accreditation, instead of the 12 to 18 months the school had anticipated.
Some students were shocked when they received letters from the university during the Christmas break notifying them about the loss of accreditation.
"My initial reaction was that my degree in business was not going to be as acceptable as other business degrees at other colleges," said Audrey Long, a senior who received her letter Dec. 23.
But Ammons was optimistic about a speedy reaccreditation
He said the school became a candidate for accreditation in seven days, a process that usually takes three months.
He also said the director of the accreditation agency had been assigned to mentor interim dean Bijoy Sahoo.
Sahoo is working on the self-study that is expected to be ready for submission to the accrediting group by March.
Once that is submitted, it will be evaluated by the agency, then a committee is to visit the School of Business before preparing its recommendations.
"We are hoping to have a site visit this spring," said Ammons.
According to Steve Parscale, director for the accrediting group, the self-study is 95 percent complete.
"I would say that the average school takes 18 months to three years" to get accredited, "but since NCCU was previously accredited, they will be able to regain their accreditation much sooner than that," said Parscale.
At a Jan. 10 meeting in the B.N. Duke Auditorium, Ammons, Jones and Sahoo answered students' and parents' questions, with an energetic and soft-spoken Sahoo vowing to save the university from embarrassment.
"We didn't lose our accreditation, we allowed it to expire," Sahoo said. "We make a commitment today that we will regain accreditation with ACBSP."
The School of Business officially lost its accreditation Dec. 15 when Newhouse failed to submit the necessary papers with ACBSP -- papers that he had already been given a year's extension to submit.
In a university news release, Newhouse said in his defense that School of Business leaders were busy working toward another accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate and Schools of Business International and thus did not respond to the ACBSP requests for information.
"Having the approval of AACSB, widely considered to be the most respected international accreditation, gives a degree of prestige to a program. ACBSP, although respected, is a younger and less well-known organization than AACSB," according to Business Week magazine.
In a ferocious response to the misstep, the university swiftly replaced Newhouse with Assistant Provost Sahoo on an interim basis.
Newhouse, who could not be reached for comment, was given eight months of administrative leave. He is to return as a tenured professor in the business school while the university searches for a new dean.
The university hopes to have a permanent dean by June.
Ammons has asked the provost to work with the deans of every accredited program to develop a master calendar showing important renewal deadlines.
"Protocol, and how we govern in terms of the university, is critical," Jones said.
In the past, letters concerning accreditation went to the dean of each accredited department. Now they will go straight to the chancellor and the provost.
"I can assure you that we will not have this happen again," said Ammons.
Despite the loss of accreditation, Kristen Hunter, Miss School of Business, was upbeat and optimistic that it would not affect students in their job hunts.
"For the most part, I would say that persons should educate themselves before getting upset," Hunter said. "The School of Business did not receive discipline-specific accreditation until 1994, so from 1910 until 1994, thousands of people graduated and were successful. What students should focus on is making the most of their degree and capitalizing on opportunities to enhance their professional development."
Ammons also said the accreditation issue would not hinder students.
"I really believe that if a student from NCCU's School of Business goes to an interview and shows their skill, then that will carry them," Ammons said.
The administration plans to send students, parents and faculty a monthly update on the accreditation status.
This is very unlike NCCU. I imagine some heads are going to roll after it's all said and done.
