Black Collegian News & Views

Dillard Gets Accreditation Warning

Dillard University was given a two-year reprieve from filing financial audits after Hurricane Katrina hit the campus in 2005.

By Drew Daniels
Black College Wire

Dillard University must act quickly to devise a plan to maintain its accreditation after the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed the school on warning for six months.

Dillard was placed on sanction June 28 because it failed to submit requested financial audits. It had been given a two-year reprieve when Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005, allowing Dillard time to find records, said Belle Wheelan, president of SACS.

She said the warning tells the school not to pass go, to simply stop and fix the situation.

Schools can be given one of two sanctions: warning or probation. The least severe action is a warning, which often precedes probation.

"If Dillard does not come into compliance, then Dillard can be put on a stronger sanction," said Wheelan.

Dillard President Marvalene Hughes said in a statement that the administration was working swiftly to provide the requested documentation, covering 2000 through June 30, 2005.

Hurricane Katrina left Dillard under up to 10 feet of water and caused more than $400 million in damages. Several buildings remain closed and under construction. Recently, the administration moved back to the campus from a downtown location.

In her statement, Hughes said the administration had taken steps to diagnose the problem and fully comply with the SACS requirements. "This is the university's top priority," she said.

Graduating senior Jabrina Bucknor, a nursing major from Chicago, said she was shocked when she learned the news from her roommate. "I'm very worried about what is going to happen. I'm a senior and I don't want to have to change schools in January," Bucknor said.

"Dillard needs to get it together ASAP. We pay too much money to attend this prestigious institution that is in danger of losing so much," she added.

The news release tells students that Dillard is fully accredited, that it is eligible to continue to receive all federal and state financial aid and grants, that none of Dillard's programs is affected or jeopardized and that no programs are being diminished.

Students at an institution that loses accreditation would not be eligible to receive financial aid and students would have a harder time getting into graduate school, said Wheelan.

Schools are accredited for 10 years. Dillard was last reviewed in 1999, according to Wheelan. "Because we don't have the audit, we are not sure about their financial stability," she said.

Marcelus Ross, an English major from Chicago, said a lot was at stake.

"I am entering my last year and trying to avoid anything that would hinder my progress and future plans after undergrad," he said. "I am praying and having faith that Dillard will take care of this time-sensitive issue. A lot is at stake when it comes to accreditation." He said he hoped the school will proceed "the right way instead of how they have taken care of business in the past."

Ronnell Perry, president of the Student Government Association, said he believes the warning reflects bad management by the past administration and said he was sure the current one would resolve this issue.

"The circumstances, which we inherited, will be corrected," said Hughes, who was inducted as university president in July 2005, succeeding Michael Lomax, who became president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund.

Hughes is trying to clean up something that happened long before she was on the scene, said Karen Celestan, senior director of university communications.

"The commission has given us this time to fix this situation and will do that," she said.

In December, a special committee plans to conduct an on-site assessment of Dillard's compliance with accreditation standards. This visit will determine what the commission will do next.

The commission will have the following options: remove the warning with or without an additional monitoring report; continue the warning for six months and request an additional report with or without authorization of a special committee; place Dillard on probation for six months; request an additional monitoring report and authorize a special committee; or remove the institution's accreditation.

Drew Daniels, a student at Dillard University, is layout and design editor for the Courtbouillon. To comment, e-mail Black College Wire.

Posted July 16, 2007