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FAMU Regains Its Accreditation

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By ADAM EMERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 26, 2008

Florida A&M University is back on firm academic ground after receiving news Thursday that its accreditation has been restored.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools took FAMU off probation, a status the university has held for the past year.

SACS officials determined that FAMU progressed beyond the financial troubles that have dogged the university for years. Just a year ago, the accrediting group noted "significant problems" in FAMU's finances and administration.

The prospect of losing accreditation jeopardized its students' chances to receive federal financial aid as well as their ability to transfer FAMU credits to other schools.

"Accreditation is a lifeline of a university," FAMU president James Ammons said in an interview Thursday. "As an indication of academic quality, to have accreditation without probation, without any stipulations, is simply huge."

It wasn't easy to get there. Ammons took over as president one week after SACS placed the university on probation.

He didn't waste time. He replaced eight senior administrators, with the blessing of FAMU's board of trustees.

The new team then went about correcting the issues SACS had raised. The accrediting group found that the university failed to comply with 10 standards for financial controls and administration.

With every corrective plan the university put in place, a SACS committee of financial experts and administrators would later check its progress.

Meanwhile, the university and alumni groups worked to maintain interest from prospective students and gifts from donors.

"It did affect our recruiting," said Ted Taylor, spokesman for the Tampa chapter of the university's alumni association. "It kind of hindered our swagger; now we have our swagger back."

Thursday's announcement came one day after a state task force ruled that FAMU "satisfactorily addressed" most of its concerns about financial controls and administration.

The task force, whose members come from law, finance and higher education, began monitoring the school last year after a state audit uncovered problems in its finances and management, which have been documented for years.

The National Science Foundation threatened in 2005 to stop all its federal grants to FAMU if the school didn't quickly solve its financial problems. The school eventually reached a settlement.

Other problems arose from state audits that pointed to university financial records that could not be verified, questionable contracting and FAMU's inability to account for millions of dollars in inventory.

Probation from SACS was the most serious blow. Accrediting about 800 colleges and universities in 11 Southern states and some in Latin America, it places 16 to 18 schools on warning or probation every year.

SACS initially placed FAMU on probation for six months, and university officials thought they had made progress when the probation was up in December. SACS officials, however, decided to extend the probation another six months.

State university system Chancellor Mark Rosenberg said Thursday that "President Ammons and the FAMU community have restored the university's good standing."

Ammons added, "For our community and for our corporate partners, everyone wants to be associated with a place of quality, and accreditation is an indicator that you do meet certain standards."

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

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