Midstate university given accreditation warning

Fort Valley State University has been hit with a one-year accreditation warning.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges made the decision at its June 15 meeting after looking at the school’s finance monitoring report as well as a follow-up report to its five-year review from June 2016, according to a disclosure statement from the association. The commission is the regional body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in Southern states.

The board of trustees found that the school was not in compliance with requirements and standards for financial stability and control; student support services; maintaining physical facilities to serve the institution’s needs; and program responsibilities for the federal Title IV program, according to the statement. Title IV deals with federal student aid funds.

A response from Fort Valley State said the university already had begun to address the areas and “enhance the Wildcat experience” before the board’s ruling. The work began when the University System of Georgia named Paul Jones the school’s 10th president in November 2015.

“The university has independently engaged in widespread internal assessments and made sweeping advances across academic, co-curricular and administrative functions,” Fort Valley’s statement said. “We are confident that the next SACS action, which will reflect the period during which this work has taken place, will recognize the institution’s forward progress.”

After Fort Valley State’s next evaluation in June 2018, the board of trustees will decide whether to remove the school’s warning status; continue the school’s accreditation and place it on probation, with committee visits and additional reports required; or revoke its accreditation, according to the commission.

The commission doesn’t give schools lists of what they need to do, but instead outlines the problem areas and lets them decide how to fix them, said Pamela Cravey, coordinator of communications and external affairs.

“Our goal is always to have our institutions meet the standards or get off of probation or warning,” she said.

Fort Valley State has implemented new technology and online systems to assist students with financial aid, housing, degree requirements and career opportunities, the school’s statement said. By fall, the school plans to have an online academic catalog, a redesigned website and personalized support services for first-year students.

The school is creating a centralized physical location for student services such as registration, financial aid, admissions and academic advising. In addition, the university has new staff members in place who are reworking finance and budget operations, as well as leaders who are focusing on increasing admissions, fundraising and research grants.

“We do expect for the warning to be lifted in concert with the next evaluation after we have submitted any information SACS may request,” Cedric Mobley, special assistant to the president for strategic communications at Fort Valley State, wrote in an email. “We are more than happy to share with them the substantive investments in talent, programming and processes made at FVSU since Dr. Jones’ arrival.”

This story was originally published June 27, 2017 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Midstate university given accreditation warning."