Agency Places FAMU On Probation

By ADAM EMERSON The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jun 23, 2007

The group that accredits Florida A&M University has placed the troubled school on probation for six months, citing "significant problems" in its finances and administration.

This week's move by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools could jeopardize federal financial aid to students and their ability to transfer FAMU credits to other schools.

The accreditation agency found the university failed to comply with 10 standards it considers paramount for financial and academic integrity.

These include problems with financial stability, its audits and oversight of financial statements, its control of research money and its responsibilities for managing financial aid.

"The university's experiencing some significant problems in complying with accreditation standards," said Tom Benberg, vice president for the association's commission on colleges in Decatur, Ga., which accredits about 800 colleges and universities.

The trouble is yet another blow for a university in turmoil. Its finances have been monitored by a state task force since an audit last spring uncovered additional problems in its finances and management, which have been documented in audits for years.

"I don't think the school has ever been at a lower spot than it is right now," said state Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, a FAMU alum. "It's really a shame the Board of Governors has been so unprepared and hands-off that they would allow a university to get into this kind of position."

Committee To Visit School In Fall

Before revoking a school's accreditation, the association gives either a warning or a notice of probation. Probation is the more serious of the two.

If the association yanks its accreditation, a rare move, FAMU students wouldn't be able to receive federal financial aid, and they would have much greater difficulty transferring credits to accredited schools.

A committee of members from accredited colleges and universities will visit FAMU in the fall to see whether the school is improving, Benberg said. The association will meet again in December to discuss FAMU's accreditation.

One of three things can happen then: The association can lift FAMU's probation, it can keep the probationary status in place, or it can drop its accreditation.

Benberg says the agency has removed accreditation from only one school in the past year and a half: St. Andrews College in North Carolina. The agency places about 16 to 18 schools on warning or probation every year.

State university system Chancellor Mark Rosenberg said in a statement that FAMU's probation status "was not unexpected," given the accrediting group's emphasis on a university's financial solvency.

The work of the state task force "is well under way," Rosenberg said. "As it proceeds, this effort will help incoming President James H. Ammons move FAMU back into good standing regarding SACS accreditation."

Ammons Turned Around University

Ammons, whom FAMU trustees hired from North Carolina Central University, begins his presidency at FAMU on July 2. He will be at a news conference the university plans to hold early next week to respond to the accrediting agency's decision. FAMU officials said little else about their probation Friday.

Ammons, FAMU's former provost, turned around North Carolina Central's accreditation lapses while he led the historically black university from 2001 to the present.

"We believe that Dr. Ammons' experience with SACS and resolving issues at North Carolina Central University will prove to be invaluable as we move forward to resolve these issues," said Larry Robinson, FAMU's chief executive officer.

FAMU also was criticized during Thursday's task force meeting by a state auditor who said the school's inspector general's office had gone 40 months without formal reports on internal investigations and that $39 million in transactions and budget amendments were made with approval of the school's board of trustees.

Auditor Manager Ted Sauerbeck told the task force there also were $1.8 million in missing receipts for athletics tickets and $11,000 in bad checks were written by the administration without board approval.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285 or aemerson@tampatrib.com.