Post by Bornthrilla on Dec 13, 2007 11:14:23 GMT -5
Dec. 13, 2007, 9:28AM
TSU's accreditation at risk from rebuke
School is given a year to improve its financial situation
By MATTHEW TRESAUGUE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Texas Southern University is only one step away from losing its accreditation after the latest and most serious blow to a campus already in crisis.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, during a meeting of its 77-member Commission on Colleges this week, placed Texas' largest historically black university on probation for the first time because of its poor financial picture.
The rare rebuke means TSU could lose its accreditation if it does not rectify the issues within a year. Without accreditation, the school's academic degrees would lose credibility and its students would not be eligible for federal financial aid.
The loss of accreditation would be devastating because nearly two-thirds of TSU's 9,500 students receive need-based federal Pell Grants.
Enrollment already had plunged to its lowest point in five years this fall after months of intense scrutiny from state lawmakers, including Gov. Rick Perry's threat of conservatorship for the chronically troubled university.
"You can understand that there are a lot of concerns," the commission's president, Belle Wheelan, said Wednesday.
Glenn Lewis, chairman of TSU's governing board, said the action came as no surprise, considering the accrediting agency began an unscheduled probe into the school's finances, leadership and management controls in August.
"While I'm concerned, I'm confident that we can do whatever needs to be done," Lewis said, adding that the commission won't send an official report to the university until next week.
Perry had not seen the agency's findings, but expressed disappointment in the decision to put TSU on probation. At the same time, the governor has confidence in the board to "right the ship," Perry spokeswoman Krista Piferrer said.
State Rep. Garnet Coleman, a Houston Democrat whose district includes the campus, said he thinks the issues could be rectified if the state stopped "toying" with TSU and provided more funding.
Some faculty members, however, expressed doubt.
Cary Wintz, a longtime history professor at TSU, said the university has been in a state of paralysis over the past seven months while Perry replaced the previous board with nine new members. Meanwhile, the university has not had a permanent president since the board fired Priscilla Slade amid a spending scandal in June 2006.
"Nothing fundamental has changed since Slade," Wintz said, "and we're now at the point where it's really bleeding us."
May audit finds problems
The probation comes after nearly two years of turmoil at the university, starting with Slade's use of school money on personal expenses. A hung jury recently spared her a criminal conviction, but her former chief financial officer, Quintin Wiggins, received a 10-year prison sentence earlier this year for his role in the scandal.
In April, Perry called for conservatorship at TSU amid concerns over lax oversight, but backed away from the plan after learning that it would jeopardize the school's accreditation.
In May, an outside audit found that TSU's spending practices were rife with problems, ranging from bookkeeping errors to inadequate controls. But the auditor, Deloitte & Touche, could not finish its work or form an opinion about the university's financial well-being because of a lack of receipts and balance sheets.
Campus leaders recently submitted a sweeping set of reforms in response to state lawmakers' concerns. The reorganization plan focuses mainly on TSU's management and identifies nearly $140 million in possible one-time expenses over the next eight years, including the demolition of shuttered buildings and repayment of financial aid to the U.S. Department of Education, among other unpaid bills.
Officials said TSU already is taking steps to rectify the commission's issues, including a balanced budget, new financial policies and the hiring of a chief financial officer experienced in turning around troubled schools. Another outside audit should begin in March, said J. Timothy Boddie Jr., the university's interim president.
"The audit will ease a lot of doubts," Boddie said. "Hopefully, by then, we can show that our financials are on their way to being in shape. Once we've done that, everything will be OK."
TSU must send a report responding to the Atlanta-based accrediting agency's concerns by September, Wheelan said.
The commission, which accredits 780 colleges and universities across the Southeast, then will decide to extend or cancel the probation, re-accredit TSU or revoke accreditation.
Texas Tech also on hot seat
This week, the commission also placed Texas Tech University and the University of the Americas-Puebla on probation. Texas Tech failed to show that it measures what students learn in the classroom.
The commission also took a small handful of schools, including American InterContinental University in Atlanta and LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Tenn., off probation. But Florida A&M University, one of the nation's largest historically black schools, will remain on probation for at least six more months.
The worst-case scenario for TSU would be to follow in the footsteps of Morris Brown College in Atlanta, which lost its accreditation in 2002 amid financial and management woes and now offers only two majors.
matthew.tresaugue@chron.com
TSU's accreditation at risk from rebuke
School is given a year to improve its financial situation
By MATTHEW TRESAUGUE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Texas Southern University is only one step away from losing its accreditation after the latest and most serious blow to a campus already in crisis.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, during a meeting of its 77-member Commission on Colleges this week, placed Texas' largest historically black university on probation for the first time because of its poor financial picture.
The rare rebuke means TSU could lose its accreditation if it does not rectify the issues within a year. Without accreditation, the school's academic degrees would lose credibility and its students would not be eligible for federal financial aid.
The loss of accreditation would be devastating because nearly two-thirds of TSU's 9,500 students receive need-based federal Pell Grants.
Enrollment already had plunged to its lowest point in five years this fall after months of intense scrutiny from state lawmakers, including Gov. Rick Perry's threat of conservatorship for the chronically troubled university.
"You can understand that there are a lot of concerns," the commission's president, Belle Wheelan, said Wednesday.
Glenn Lewis, chairman of TSU's governing board, said the action came as no surprise, considering the accrediting agency began an unscheduled probe into the school's finances, leadership and management controls in August.
"While I'm concerned, I'm confident that we can do whatever needs to be done," Lewis said, adding that the commission won't send an official report to the university until next week.
Perry had not seen the agency's findings, but expressed disappointment in the decision to put TSU on probation. At the same time, the governor has confidence in the board to "right the ship," Perry spokeswoman Krista Piferrer said.
State Rep. Garnet Coleman, a Houston Democrat whose district includes the campus, said he thinks the issues could be rectified if the state stopped "toying" with TSU and provided more funding.
Some faculty members, however, expressed doubt.
Cary Wintz, a longtime history professor at TSU, said the university has been in a state of paralysis over the past seven months while Perry replaced the previous board with nine new members. Meanwhile, the university has not had a permanent president since the board fired Priscilla Slade amid a spending scandal in June 2006.
"Nothing fundamental has changed since Slade," Wintz said, "and we're now at the point where it's really bleeding us."
May audit finds problems
The probation comes after nearly two years of turmoil at the university, starting with Slade's use of school money on personal expenses. A hung jury recently spared her a criminal conviction, but her former chief financial officer, Quintin Wiggins, received a 10-year prison sentence earlier this year for his role in the scandal.
In April, Perry called for conservatorship at TSU amid concerns over lax oversight, but backed away from the plan after learning that it would jeopardize the school's accreditation.
In May, an outside audit found that TSU's spending practices were rife with problems, ranging from bookkeeping errors to inadequate controls. But the auditor, Deloitte & Touche, could not finish its work or form an opinion about the university's financial well-being because of a lack of receipts and balance sheets.
Campus leaders recently submitted a sweeping set of reforms in response to state lawmakers' concerns. The reorganization plan focuses mainly on TSU's management and identifies nearly $140 million in possible one-time expenses over the next eight years, including the demolition of shuttered buildings and repayment of financial aid to the U.S. Department of Education, among other unpaid bills.
Officials said TSU already is taking steps to rectify the commission's issues, including a balanced budget, new financial policies and the hiring of a chief financial officer experienced in turning around troubled schools. Another outside audit should begin in March, said J. Timothy Boddie Jr., the university's interim president.
"The audit will ease a lot of doubts," Boddie said. "Hopefully, by then, we can show that our financials are on their way to being in shape. Once we've done that, everything will be OK."
TSU must send a report responding to the Atlanta-based accrediting agency's concerns by September, Wheelan said.
The commission, which accredits 780 colleges and universities across the Southeast, then will decide to extend or cancel the probation, re-accredit TSU or revoke accreditation.
Texas Tech also on hot seat
This week, the commission also placed Texas Tech University and the University of the Americas-Puebla on probation. Texas Tech failed to show that it measures what students learn in the classroom.
The commission also took a small handful of schools, including American InterContinental University in Atlanta and LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Tenn., off probation. But Florida A&M University, one of the nation's largest historically black schools, will remain on probation for at least six more months.
The worst-case scenario for TSU would be to follow in the footsteps of Morris Brown College in Atlanta, which lost its accreditation in 2002 amid financial and management woes and now offers only two majors.
matthew.tresaugue@chron.com
