Despite a recent leak of uncomplimentary “confidential documents,” trustees at Saint Augustine’s University say that they remain optimistic as a subsequent review for accreditation approaches.
“On behalf of the Saint Augustine’s University Board of Trustees, we are excited about the start of a new academic year,” the board’s chairman, the Rev. Dr. Hilton O. Smith, said in a statement released by the university. “We continue to support the direction the university’s administrators are taking to prepare for the university’s removal from probationary status with the regional accreditation agency.”
Saint Augustine is accredited to award baccalaureate degrees by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). However, for the past several years, the university has been monitored for deficiencies in several areas, including financial resources and stability, institutional effectiveness: educational programs, and control of finances.
Confidential internal reports, anonymously sent to several media outlets including Diverse, cast doubt on whether Saint Augustine would maintain its accreditation.
A university spokesman for the university did not respond to inquiries seeking comment.
Probation is the most serious public sanction imposed by SACSCOC’s Board of Trustees short of the loss of accreditation, according to information on the official website of the regional accrediting body in the 11 Southern states for institutions of higher education that award associate, baccalaureate, master’s, or doctoral degrees. The maximum consecutive time that an institution may be on probation is two years. In December 2018, Saint Augustine’s University will have been on probation for two years.
SACSCOC’s Board of Trustees will consider the accreditation status of Saint Augustine following a review of a fourth monitoring report submitted by the institution and the board will have the following options: (1) remove the institution from probation without an additional report; or (2) remove the institution from membership for failure to comply with the Principles of Accreditation.
