Historic Fisk University opened its doors this month with a new president and sense of optimism about its future, hoping the steps it’s taking to overhaul its financial underpinnings and operations will help it win a clean bill of health from its major accrediting agency.
“Everything hinges on SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools),” said Fisk President Dr. H. James Williams, referring to the Atlanta-based higher education accrediting agency.
“Things are okay,” Williams said in a recent interview reflecting on his first six months on the job. “We’re making progress in addressing the SACS issues.”
Williams, an academician with a Ph.D. in accounting and a law degree in taxation, was recruited from his post of dean of the Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. A graduate of North Carolina Central State University in his home state, Williams earned graduate degrees at the University of Wisconsin, University of Georgia and Georgetown University.
Fisk is on probation with SACS, the major accrediting agency for most institutions of higher education in the South. The university has until December to demonstrate compliance with the SACS standards or risk more punitive action that could make the tuition-driven institution ineligible to receive federal student aid funds, a major source of income.
While fully accredited and its academic offerings never called into question, Fisk was placed on probation nearly two years ago by SACS for a variety of other reasons, including concerns about its long-term financial viability, the quality of its administration and its management.
