SACS accreditation update Young steps down, Ammons Steps in

Southern University was hit with a warning that threatened to strip the historically black university of its accreditation during June of last year.
The university needs its accreditation in order to issue degrees or accept any federal funds.
The cause of these sanctions originate from faculty standards and student complaints, amongst other things.
During the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Board of Trustees meeting that takes place every June, Southern University was issued a warning; and was told to prepare a report that would address the issues the university was being cited for.
“With the warning, we were required to submit a monitoring report that would address the four issues that SACS cited us for. And those issues were based around faculty, how we access and evaluate our academic programs, student issues, student satisfactory progress, and student complaints. That report was due on April 3rd, and we submitted it to SACS,” said Executive Vice-Chancellor of Southern University of Baton Rouge campus, Dr. James Ammons, when asked about our current status of the warning.
The Board of Trustees of SACS is set to meet in June, and whether or not the university has adhered to its standards will determine if any further sanctions will be issued.
The Interim Executive Vice Chancellor before Dr. Ammons, Dr. Luria Young, played a pivotal role in the initial push to improve our standings with SACS, and although there was reason to believe that she would stay with the university, Young retired before any real progress could begin, and was succeeded by Dr. Ammons.
“Let me tell you, Dr. Young was a key member of the university community and had been a member of the faculty administration for over twenty years. When someone reaches that milestone in one setting, they are missed — sorely missed,” said Dr. Ammons when asked how his predecessor’s retirement impacted the university’s current mission of being taken off of the SACS accreditation warning list.
As far as Dr. Young’s retirement is concerned, *Ammons continued on to say that despite Young’s retirement, the university has remained strong in her absence. “The one thing about Southern University is that it is a resilient institution, and we have been able to hire a new director of accreditation, who has a number of years of experience in higher education and executive positions, and who has served as a consultant on the accreditation process at the university for nearly two years. And the new director worked very closely with Dr. Young, so we were able to pick right up from the work that she did by bringing him in.”
As to whether or not there is any serious possibility of Southern losing its accreditation at the conclusion of the Board of Trustees meeting, Dr. Ammons seemed very confident that there was no genuine danger.
“We have demonstrated, I think, compliance with the core requirements of SACS, as well as the comprehensive standards. The one core requirement we had was the one regarding adequacy of faculty, and I think that in the monitoring report, we [have] demonstrated that we do have adequate faculty to deliver the academic programs here at the university,” said Dr. Ammons.
While a lack of trust among students towards administration has played its own role in the accreditation process, members of the student body have let it be known that they trust their administration to correct the miscues of the past.
Garon Williams, a freshman Computer Science major from Baton Rouge, Louisiana shares the Vice-Chancellor’s sentiments in this regard, “I have faith in Southern. They’re going to get it done,” said Williams when asked about his personal belief in his university to make things right.
As far as Southern University’s overall status is concerned, the SACS Board of Trustees meeting in June will determine whether or not Southern University’s name is removed from the accreditation warning list.
In the opinions of both the administration and the student body however, there is nothing to worry about.