University of Mobile President Mark Foley and other school officials deserve high praise for bringing to a close a stormy chapter in the school’s history. On June 30 UM ended its seven-year adventure with its Latin American Branch Campus (LABC) located in San Marcos, Nicaragua, when Ave Maria College of the Americas assumed operation of the campus.
But before the adventure ended, it resulted in the forced resignation of then-president Michael Magnoli, caused the regional accrediting agency to place the institution on probation, damaged the reputation of a growing and dynamic school and resulted in the loss of millions of dollars.
It does not take a long memory to recall the tensions that surfaced between the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions and the University of Mobile over the founding and operation of the LABC. The venture was initiated in 1993 without proper endorsements from the state Baptist convention. Soon questions about the operation of the campus ended up on the floor of a State Board of Missions meeting.
Agreements between the state convention and the University of Mobile were twice approved by messengers assembled in annual session. Still the tensions continued.
Four years later, in May 1997, UM trustees said they had been misled about financial dealings related to the LABC as part of the rationale for Magnoli’s forced resignation.
The financial drain of the LABC which came to light at that time prompted the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to place UM on probation. The accrediting agency came dangerously close to lifting the school’s accreditation which would have closed the school.
It was about that time that Mark Foley was elected president, February 1998. He pledged to reestablish the integrity of the school with the state convention. He also promised to restore unquestioned accreditation and to resolve the LABC issue. In a short span of 30 months he was successful
in accomplishing all three goals.
Accrediting probation was lifted in December 1998. Student enrollment, which fell in the fall of 1997, rebounded. A new School of Leadership has been established. Campus improvements regularly update the appearance of the Mobile campus. Morale is high. The school is growing in every way.
Relationships with the Alabama Baptist State Convention have improved. Since becoming president, Foley has regularly shared updates about the success and the problems related to UM. He has shared obstacles and roadblocks to accomplish the goals of the school. His information has been reliable. He has been cooperative.
The fact that Foley announced as his first goal the restoration of integrity with the state convention attests to the low state of the relationship and the school’s own judgment of its conduct and communication. Now that relationship is strong. Foley deserves high praise for such a turnaround.
The LABC has been the hardest challenge. Officials from the Mobile campus on business in Nicaragua have been arrested and held for days. Warrants issued have kept officials from traveling to Nicaragua. Lawsuits, government contracts and other matters have complicated what was supposed to be an educational venture.
Foley said he has spent more than 60 percent of his time and energy since becoming president of UM dealing with the LABC. That comment attests to how thorny the issues were. It also attests to how out of balance the LABC became. What was supposed to be a branch campus almost consumed the entire institution.
The financial records have not been audited for UM’s fiscal year completed June 30. All figures are subject to revision. Still, Foley indicated the book loss on the Latin American adventure will be in excess of $3 million. That figure does not include travel and time related to the LABC. When that total over seven years is added, the cost is substantially more.
One question remains unresolved – the status of the $3.8 million UM said it would return to the Mobile campus from operations of the LABC. That is the amount of Cooperative Program money UM officials said they received and spent on the LABC. According to one of the agreements, that amount of money was to be returned from Nicaragua to the Mobile campus.
Obviously, that will never happen. UM sold its LABC assets for $365,000 and part of that money will go to pay expenses related to the ownership transfer.
What will convention do?
Foley said UM shows the funds as an internal loan from one hand of the university to another. From a bookkeeping standpoint, it is not a problem. The question is what will the Alabama Baptist State Convention do? Since there is no way to recover additional funds from Nicaragua, will the convention simply drop the footnote attached to the annual budget concerning funds for UM?
That is the hope of this writer. Foley and others associated with the University of Mobile have made remarkable progress in 30 months. They have resolved the LABC issue by transferring its operation to another institution. UM is out of Nicaragua. Now it is time for the state convention to follow suit and close the chapter on the past seven years.
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