Black Collegian News & Views

FAMU Optimistic After Accrediting Setback

Tony Leavell/FAMU New President James H. Ammons, under the FAMU seal, and Larry Robinson, second from left, joined others at a June 28 news conference to calm fears about the accreditation agency's decision to place the school on probation. Students and faculty were supportive.

By Mark Taylor II
Black College Wire

When Florida A&M University's chief executive officer, Larry Robinson, sought to explain an accrediting agency's decision to put the university on probation for six months, Robinson found receptive audiences.

Some cheered, almost as if they were at a football game. Many expressed confidence in Robinson, and were relieved that a new president, James H. Ammons of North Carolina Central University, a FAMU alumnus, was arriving. In general, both faculty and students were supportive.

The former provost spoke to an audience of more than 500 faculty and administrators on June 25 at the FAMU College of Pharmacy's Blue Cross Blue Shield Auditorium. The emergency session was so packed that a separate meeting was held afterward for spectators not able to be seated. Robinson also spoke with 200 students in Lee Hall.

Robinson wanted to provide solutions and dispel rumors. "I'm going to begin with just the facts," he said.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools' Commission on Colleges, known as SACS, plans an off-site review of the university in September. Robinson said, "What we will do in September is show the progress that we've made, in hopes of getting them to remove the sanctions," referring to the probationary status.

By December, Robinson said he plans to show significant progress toward meeting SACS' approval. "And I have no doubt that we are going to be all right," Robinson said to cheers.

"The accreditation of FAMU is fully intact," Robinson said. "Our ability to secure federal funding is fully intact."

Robinson said that according to information provided him by SACS personnel, FAMU technically had a year to comply.

"In reality, FAMU has until September 2008," Robinson said, since the normal accreditation process uses a 10-year cycle. At the faculty meeting, Robinson called this a "silver lining. FAMU's last cycle was in 1998 and the new one begins in September 2008," he explained to students.

The university plans to simultaneously work on the 35 original accreditation issues and the 10 compliance issues, which are all related to financial-management issues and governance, as the university has explained.

Robinson told questioners that the current situation was prompted by an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

In March, a preliminary report by the Florida auditor general found $39 million in undocumented expenditures at the university.

Robinson said SACS wrote to FAMU after an article about the financial problems was published in the Chronicle, to which FAMU's interim president, Castell Bryant, responded in early April.

"The audit, which is a routine biennial examination of university operations, identified several instances of bookkeeping discrepancies and unaccounted-for spending, among them: a $2.7-million inconsistency in student-financial-aid transactions; nearly 1,000 missing pieces of equipment worth $2.7-million; and misplaced records for $1.8-million in athletics-ticket sales," according to the Chronicle.

Bryant replied in a statement that suggestions by some state legislators that the university's actions were criminal were "very serious charges" that were "not substantiated" by the audit, the Chronicle said.

In mid-May, SACS sent a detailed letter requesting two of FAMU's most current financial statements, the operational audit, comments on four of the accreditation standards and an update addressing nonpayment of university employees. SACS held a meeting on June 21 that addressed these concerns and came to its decision to issue FAMU a six-month probation, rather than a warning.

According to Robinson, 22 of the 35 compliance areas have been reported as complete; however, they must undergo in-house evaluation.

"There are going to be a lot of people who will doubt our ability to succeed. We have to dismiss those people in a hurry because we don't have time to listen to it," the former provost told the faculty.

"We have faced tougher challenges before in our past. I want you to walk out of here thinking that with the collective efforts of everyone in this room and the leadership of Dr. Ammons, I am sure we are going to be under control with this by December.

Robinson was named in May to lead the school temporarily until Ammons took office on July 2.

Although cheerful, some faculty members were concerned that their jobs would be sacrificed to solve financial distress. There was also worry about an item on the SACS list about the quality of faculty and administration.

"You will not lose your jobs," Robinson said, adding that it was premature to make such assumptions. "If your colleagues are missing, it is [probably] because they were moved around to help out."

Robinson affirmed that, "No individual or department has been identified by SACS" as being incapable of carrying out his or her job. The "quality of faculty" mention stems from technology issues that resulted after changes made due to requirements imposed by recent legislation, he said.

"When I agreed to serve in this transition, I didn't think this was going to be a piece of cake," Robinson said to the faculty. "But I'd give up what I was doing any day to come back and help this university in any way that I can. And that's what we are going to need from you."

Some of the reaction was passionate.

"We are [in this] together," said Clyde Ashley, associate professor at the School of Business and Industry. Ashley asked whether there was something that faculty and administration could do to help. Robinson encouraged him to "continue to do the inspirational teaching that you do," because the accreditation process is not based on financial activity alone, but also on the performance of FAMU's students.

The former provost also asked faculty to take five minutes beginning this fall to reassure students and allow them to reflect. "You need to be prepared to be called upon," he added, because faculty members would need to work on committees responsible for solving probation issues.

Some faculty members were concerned about what was rumored to be a $39 million deficit. Robinson replied, "It is not a deficit." Regarding all rumors, Robinson said, "Kindly tell the person, 'you don't know what you're talking about.'"

Robinson appeared to receive the full support of the faculty, but among students there were mixed feelings.

Monique Gillum, student body president and board of trustees member, encouraged concerned students, "Educate yourselves. When you educate yourself you empower yourself." She urged her peers to stay actively informed.

"Do know that the experience that you will get at FAMU is one that you will not get at another university. Go back to the place inside you that made you come to FAMU and don't let go of that feeling," Gillum said.

Maura McCasted, a fifth-year MBA candidate, asked, "What is the university doing to encourage others to come to FAMU despite recent happenings?"

"We are working on letters with LaNedra Carroll in the Office of Public Affairs," Robinson responded. That office confirmed that letters were mailed to the students' registered home addresses on June 29. "We have also activated a call center with staffing to assist with this issue. We don't normally activate this unless there is a hurricane, but this is a different hurricane."

Robinson said he wanted to remind fellow Rattlers, "Any thought about us not being here is totally ridiculous," despite a worst-case scenario that could trigger a process in which FAMU could lose its accreditation.

"I was hoping for better news. The warm fuzzy feeling that I had when I went in wasn't exactly the same when I left out. I don't really think it's fair to bet our degrees on a technicality," McCasted said.

Maynard Yates, a spring 2007 graduate in computer information sciences, reacted differently. "I felt that a lot of fears and uncertainties that people had should have been relieved and I think Dr. Robinson eased a lot of those fears. This is not something that just the administration can handle— it is a schoolwide issue. "This is a serious situation, although this is nothing FAMU can't handle."

Mark Taylor II, a student at Florida A&M University, writes for the Famuan.

Posted July 5, 2007