An accrediting agency handed down decisions involving Baptist-affiliated Brewton-Parker College, Shorter University and Louisiana College, all in a single day.
One Baptist college had its accreditation revoked, another’s was reaffirmed and a third got probation on a busy day June 19 for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS).
Brewton-Parker College officials announced plans to appeal Thursday’s vote at the SACS commission’s board of trustees meeting in San Antonio, Texas, to remove the Georgia Baptist Convention-affiliated school from membership.
Ergun Caner, elected December 2013 as president of the school with a main campus in Mount Vernon, Ga., said Brewton-Parker has 10 days to file an appeal and will remain accredited but on probation during the process.
SACS placed Brewton-Parker on probation in 2012 after finding deficiencies in the number and qualifications of faculty, financial stability and oversight of business functions including compliance with rules for federal student aid.
“The board of trustees have instructed me to take all necessary steps to protect the institution and our status as a member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools,” Caner said.
Another Georgia Baptist Convention school, Shorter University in Rome, Ga., announced the same day the SACS commission voted to affirm its accreditation, after placing the school on warning last year for questions about student-teacher ratio and qualifications of faculty members.
Adhering to biblical standards
Shorter President Donald Dowless said in a press release, “Today’s vote confirms our belief that strong scholarship and Christian commitment can go hand in hand. We continue to be firmly dedicated to providing our students with access to professors and academic programs of the highest quality while adhering to biblical standards.”
Dozens of faculty members departed Shorter in 2012 after imposition of a new “lifestyle statement” affirming biblical inerrancy and requiring faculty and staff to sign a pledge rejecting homosexuality. While not requiring they be teetotalers, the policy also forbade faculty and staff from drinking alcohol in public.
Louisiana College, a Louisiana Baptist Convention-affiliated school in Pineville, La., beset by controversy, lawsuits and a leadership change, returned to SACS probation for “administrative issues,” just six months after having its accreditation reaffirmed after two years on probation.
Argile Smith, president pro tempore for Louisiana College, said in a press release, “Although the decision is disappointing, it represents an opportunity for Louisiana College to address the issues in preparation for the arrival of a new president. “Fortunately, the issues don’t bring into question in any way the excellent classroom work being done by our professors and students. The issues have to do with administrative areas.”
Accreditation by SACS is like the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” said Belle Wheelen, SACS executive director. Regional accreditation assures public accountability that the institution meets the guidelines of a quality institution. To the institution, accreditation gives access to federal student financial aid.
Wheelen said there is no requirement for a school to have regional accreditation from SACS but such schools do not have the “vote of confidence” to offer the public provided by SACS, and students at those schools do not have access to federal student aid dollars.
(ABP, TAB)
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