wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Barber-Scotia College loses accreditation

[Deeanna Alford <dalford@CTR.PCUSA.ORG>]

04331
July 23, 2004

Barber-Scotia College loses accreditation

No appeal of revocation means no financial aid for students

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE * After its accreditation was revoked last month, officials at
financially strapped Barber-Scotia College decided not to appeal the
decision.

Officials had 10 days to file an appeal, but let the deadline pass. 

That means students enrolled for the fall semester at the private
Presbyterian-related four-year college in Concord, NC, are ineligible for
federal financial aid.

The loss of accreditation is a severe blow to the 137-year-old, historically
black institution, where more than 90 percent of students typically receive
some form of government assistance.

However, Barber-Scotia's new president, Gloria Bromell-Tinubu, said classes
will begin on schedule on Aug. 25.

Bromell-Tinubu said the liberal arts college near Charlotte hopes to raise
enough money to compensate students for the lost federal aid while it
prepares to apply for re-accreditation and works to improve its financial
condition.

"We'll do what's necessary to get back on the right track," said
Bromell-Tinubu, who became the institution's president on June 17, a week
before officials learned that its accreditation had been revoked. "We really
believe ... things will be put back in place. The school will live up to its
potential."

Officials planned initially to appeal the June 24 decision of the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), which would have allowed students
to continue receiving aid while the appeal was pending.

But Bromell-Tinubu it would have cost $15,000, and such appeals are seldom
successful.

To win its case, Barber-Scotia, which had about 750 students last year, would
have to show either that SACS violated its procedures or that its decision
was arbitrary.

"We figured, Why not use our resources to go ahead and get back on track,
rather than fighting what would be a losing battle?" said Bromell-Tinubu, a
former member of Atlanta's city council and former Spelman College professor.

She declined to detail the school's debt, but said it is planning a campaign
to raise $6 million for student scholarships for the coming academic year.

"Right now we're proposing to give students 80 percent (of expenses) in the
form of scholarship funds, have them work off (an additional) 10 percent ...
(and) the remaining 10 percent would have to come out of their pocket," said
Bromell-Tinubu, an economist. "At the end of the year, if we're successful
with that, they won't have a debt."

The college got a boost recently when the Tom Joyner Foundation announced
that it will provide $500,000 in scholarships. The foundation, named for
radio personality Tom Joyner, supports African-American students at
historically black colleges and universities.

Barber-Scotia was founded by the Presbyterian Church in 1867 as a seminary
for daughters of former slaves.

The decision to revoke its accreditation was based on "a fundamental issue of
integrity," according to James T. Rogers, executive director of SACS's
Commission on Colleges. Rogers said the school awarded degrees to nearly 30
students in the adult program who SACS determined hadn't fulfilled the proper
requirements.

"It was a series of things, but primarily it had to do with what happened
with grade changes, and degrees being offered without students having
completed work, and that sort of thing," Rogers said.

Bromell-Tinubu said the school has corrected these problems and hopes to
regain accreditation through SACS or another such institution. She said it
will probably take at least two to three years to regain full membership in
SACS.

"Our hope is that we will be able to have our ducks in a row to be a
candidate for membership by this time next year," she said. "Once we're a
candidate, we're then eligible for the federal funds again."

Last year, the college employed 26 full-time faculty members, six part-timers
and about 50 other staffers. Bromell-Tinubu acknowledged that some employees
* she said she couldn't say how many * will be laid off because of the
accreditation problem. She said some cuts were lone overdue.

"Some of the cuts that we're doing now should have been cuts before, because
we really didn't have the student enrollment necessary in some of these
majors to justify the expenses associated with faculty salary," she said.

Early this month, the college avoided having its electricity turned off by
paying the city of Concord $75,943 for utility bills from April, May and
June. In June, the school had to delay a portion of employees' pay.

Barber-Scotia was put on "warning status" by SACS in December, partly because
of its continuing financial problems. Former President Sammie Potts resigned
in February.

Bromell-Tinubu said she knew when she was hired that the college might lose
accreditation, but thought it was more likely to be put on probation instead.

She said she doesn't regret coming to Barber-Scotia.

"I am supposed to be here at this time and at this point in the college's
history," she said. "I really believe that everything is in divine order.
Things are as they should be, and we'll be where we need to be."

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