SACS Probation

 
As of December 10, 2012, Southern University and A&M College at Baton Rouge’s accreditation has been continued and placed on six months probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges or SACSCOC.
SACSCOC is officially responsible for the accreditation, review, & assessment of the performance of the membered institutions of higher education within the southern regional area of the country.
According to SUBR chancellor, James Llorens, following the most recent accreditation in 2010, the university received its accreditation with some recommendations.
“The first report we submitted was unacceptable in 2011, we got it back from SACSCOC and there were still some of the issues that they wanted documentation on,” Llorens said.
The university then put together and submitted another report based on three of the standards that the SACSCOC committee reviewed and the committee accepted two of the standards but needed more documentation on the final standard; measuring student outcomes.
Since this was the second report submitted, by necessity SUBR had to be placed on probation until the approval of the next report.
Comprehensive standard 3.3.1.1 of the Principles of Accreditation addresses meeting student outcomes and the effectiveness of an educational program. It applies to all parts of the respective university, where the related accreditation provides certification for all educational venues of the university, inclusive of all programs, branch campuses, off-campus sites, and distance learning programs.
According to the report issued December 20, 2012 by the SACSCOC, Southern has maintained a good report in all other areas, meeting the standards held available for all universities of membership.
“Basically what they (SACSCOC) are saying is that we have to demonstrate. We had submitted in our report that showed a sampling of degree programs that we had in our assessments,” Llorens stated. “Now they want us to do it for everyone to show documentation. So we’ll submit another report March 1.”
There will be a special committee coming to SUBR in April after the report and documentation have been reviewed.
Chancellor Llorens stated, “we have marched all our forces” and have brought in a consultant that used to work for SACSCOC, Joseph Silvers, who has helped a number of institutions who have gone through this process.
“We know that we are assessing every program but it’s a matter of just documenting what assessment tool you use, how you then use the results of that assessment,” Llorens said.
Llorens said the documentation will track how students are obtaining their degrees and the practical skills they gain along the way.
“For students its how are we using not only your test results but how are we documenting that you are gaining the program materials and how you are grasping the information that you need in those courses in your degree program.”
Joseph Silvers, former vice president of SACSCOC, is scheduled to meet with the university officials next week about the report.
Chancellor Llorens displayed confidence in the university obtaining full accreditation by June 2013 with no problems.
“Out of everything that is out there they (SACSCOC) are just making sure that we have all the proper documentation needed to support our report,” Llorens said.
The Commission’s Board will make its decision in June 2013 and will not speculate on what the decision will be.