Grambling: Accreditation panel applauds changes

GRAMBLING, LA – Grambling State University has achieved a “remarkable transformation” in financial management as it seeks to retain its recently threatened accreditation, a committee representing a regional accreditation group said.
The endorsement offered encouragement in advance of a final ruling by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, or SACS, during meetings scheduled in Nashville from Dec. 6-9.
The association placed Grambling on probation in 2001 after several consecutive years in which the state legislative auditor ruled he could not verify the accuracy of the university’s financial statements.
Because of a two-year limit on probation cases, SACS must fully restore or revoke the century-old institution’s accreditation this year.
Students at an unaccredited university cannot qualify for federal financial aid and their degrees often are not recognized by graduate schools or professional boards. About 90 percent of Grambling students receive at least some financial aid.
A three-member panel from SACS visited Grambling last month to review the north Louisiana school’s financial resources and policies as well as the training and size of staff in the university’s budget office.
This past week, the University of Louisiana System released a Nov. 7 report the committee sent to Grambling.
“The demonstrated commitment to sound fiscal management and accountability at all levels of university administration, the obvious competence of the university’s fiscal affairs staff, and the active support from the University of Louisiana System administration and Board of Supervisors are strong indicators that significant progress will continue,” the report stated.
Grambling’s acting president, Neari Warner, applauded the university accounting staff’s hard work but warned against premature celebration, noting that the association’s Commission on Colleges will consider other information in addition to the committee report.
“This is not the single item that will determine what happens at Grambling State,” she said.
After a decline in student enrollment from a high of more than 7,800 in 1993 to 4,500 in recent years, the student population has stabilized.
Since replacing budget officers, the university has received two consecutive years of good state audits.
Meanwhile, state funding for Grambling has increased.
The committee’s report praised all of those developments.