Will Gram lose their accreditation?


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Jaguar Nation
Verdict on GSU expected Tuesday

Posted on December 6, 2001

The wait for news on Grambling State University's accreditation status will be over as soon as Tuesday.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is meeting in New Orleans this week and next. It will consider the information GSU has sent in defense of its financial status and is expected to take some action by Tuesday when the SACS conference ends.

Acting GSU President Neari Warner and chief financial officer Billy Owens were out of town and could not be reached for comment. They are expected to return Dec. 14 to Grambling, said Vickie Jackson, GSU spokeswoman.

However, Jackson said university officials are hopeful.

"We are hopeful, and we'd like to be optimistic while at the same time not to second-guess SACS," Jackson said.

"We'd like to believe the packet that we've submitted to SACS, which included a written description of the proposal submitted to us by Legislative Auditor Dan Kyle, will substantiate our efforts to improve the university's overall fiscal standing and ultimately meet SAC's criteria.

"We understand that we did not submit an audit, so perhaps a full affirmation at this time is unlikely, but, in the near future, we will do that," Jackson said. "As we implement Kyle's proposal, we feel confident that we will at some time in the near future get full accreditation for the university. Currently, the university is fully accredited. A lot of people are unaware of that. I'm hoping they will at least continue the warning."

Warner explained the school's financial situation in a letter dated Nov. 16 to James T. Rogers, executive director for SACS' Commission on Colleges.

She noted that in September the university submitted a report to SACS addressing 11 recommendations it made in June when GSU was placed on warning. In the September report, Grambling indicated completed financial audits would be submitted.

"Grambling State University was advised on Nov. 5, 2001, by Dr. Dan Kyle, legislative auditor for the State of Louisiana, that his office would be unable to complete an audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001, in time for consideration by the Commission at its December meeting," Warner wrote.

However, Warner outlined in the letter steps Grambling has taken to strengthen its financial and operating system. The key point, according to Warner, was when GSU hired Owens as its chief financial officer.

Owens took over Aug. 5. He is a veteran of financial management, having served as vice president for business and fiscal affairs at Tuskegee University, assistant vice president for budget and planning at Marquette University, associate vice president for finance and controller at the Medical College of Wisconsin and associate controller at Southern Methodist University.

When he arrived four months ago at Grambling, Owens began assessing the university's accounting, business, human resource and information technology operations, and reviewed current policies and procedures. He also developed a detailed plan of action that includes specific steps and time lines to correct conditions and findings cited by Kyle's office, Warner wrote.

Some of the completed actions taken:

-- A change in software

-- Hired key accounting, human resource, information technology and facilities people.

-- Completed GSU's annual financial report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001

-- Implemented a comprehensive staff reduction plan to abolish 111 classified and 26 unclassified positions to bring student and staff ratios in line

-- Implemented a specific and on-going employee-training program for active employees and new hires at GSU to improve and ensure the integrity of the financial operations.

Mark Drennen, commissioner of administration for the State of Louisiana Division of Administration, complimented GSU on its financial statement.

In a letter to Sally Clausen, president of the University of Louisiana System, he said the financial forms received by his office "represent some of the better work I have seen from GSU in years."

Warner also explained to SACS in her letter that Kyle could not complete his audit of Grambling in time for the December meeting of SACS.

However, Kyle offered an unprecedented proposal to GSU last month to stop the university's 2001 audit.

Kyle said his staff would work with financial officers at the university to ensure records are in shape for fiscal year 2002.

When books are audited for the current financial year that ends June 30, 2002, the university will have to use a new accounting reporting form required by the government accounting standards board.

The new form will have financial statements for public bodies looking like those for corporations, Kyle said.

Grambling needs to prepare its financial records to accommodate the new form with help from Kyle's staff, he said.

With the focus on fiscal 2002, the university could receive a qualified audit for the current year. That means the university would be missing some financial information from the past that would affect the auditor's statement.

By fiscal 2003, though, the university's financial records should be in good enough shape to have an unqualified audit, Kyle said.

Kyle said as much in a Nov. 5 letter to Warner, which she included as an attachment to her report to SACS.

"I am hoping that SACS will just slightly reprimand us and put us on some type of probation, and Dr. Kyle has graciously agreed to bring in his staff to help make the necessary staffing changes," said Mike Woods, ULS Board of Supervisors chairman of personnel.

"I'm cautiously optimistic. I don't see (SACS) taking away our accreditation. I can't imagine SACS in my wildest imaginations doing that."
 
It seems like the state legislators would attempt to do more to help GSU while they are being reviewed by SACS. How many black legislators do they have down there??
 

Originally posted by DasuavestBalla
It seems like the state legislators would attempt to do more to help GSU while they are being reviewed by SACS. How many black legislators do they have down there??
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Approx 23???
 
Originally posted by DasuavestBalla
It seems like the state legislators would attempt to do more to help GSU while they are being reviewed by SACS. How many black legislators do they have down there??
Click to expand...

I agree with you on the DasuavestBalla. I also think that since Gram is putting foward the effort and keeping SAC informed that they are actively working on the situation accreditation should not be revoked.
 
I think that in light of the improvements made and corrective controls put in place in terms of following generally accepted accounting principles, the Accreditation Board will give GSU it's accreditation. As I recall, it was withheld pending the submission of an audit by the Legislative Auditors. Since the 2001 financial statements have been submitted and found "auditable", we should have no problem.

IMO, it wasn't so much a case of competence as it was a case of concealment. I have no proof, but usually where there is poor record keeping there is also coverup and pilfering. I think we have someone on board who is setting up guidelines and controls to ensure that this won't continue to happen!
 
Good Luck, GSU!!!

Even though I may joke about this, it is really a serious matter and could have resounding implications not only for Grambling, but in the HBCU-world. I for one am praying for the best.

Now if we can get some of these folks who have been rooted in our systems outta here with that pilfering and covering up, we will all probably weather the storms a whole lot better.
 
Thanks Jaguar Diehard! The Accreditation board issued a 1yr probationary accreditation. Dr. Warner and Mr Owens spearheaded an excellent effort to get this year's books in line. Also seems to have a good action plan to be in full compliance for the next review.
 
Grambling on probation

Financial management woes land Grambling on probation

Next step could be loss of accreditation

12/12/01

By Coleman Warner
Staff writer/The Times-Picayune

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools has placed Grambling State University on probation because of continuing fiscal management troubles, moving the institution one step away from loss of its critical general accreditation.

"It's the most serious sanction we can impose short of removal from membership," James Rogers, executive director of the association's Commission on Colleges, said Tuesday after a meeting at the Hilton Riverside Hotel. "They have to take care of their financial questions."

Loss of SACS accreditation would jeopardize Grambling's access to financial aid and undermine its reputation.

The Commission on Colleges placed Grambling on its warning list in June. Grambling's interim president, Neari Warner, said the university's move from a "warning" to the more serious probation status poses an image problem, but she stressed that Grambling remains accredited.

With help from Legislative Auditor Dan Kyle's office, Grambling is working to clear up its financial reporting, Warner said.

She also noted that 84 percent of Grambling's academic programs are accredited by outside organizations.

Probation "does not mean that the academic program will be minimized. It does not mean that our services will be altered," Warner said. "We need to provide them with what we didn't have, and that's an audited statement. We're working hard to do it."

Warner was not part of talks among members of SACS advisory panels and the Commission on Colleges, held behind closed doors. She expects to get a list of directives from the Atlanta-based agency in two weeks.

SACS accredits more than 12,000 public and private educational institutions, from prekindergarten through university levels, in 11 Southeastern states as well as in Latin America. It is one of six regional accrediting organizations sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Education.

Grambling officials concede they repeatedly missed deadlines for providing audit information required by Kyle's office. As a result, Kyle has said he couldn't provide a sound financial report to SACS.

With Grambling workers scrambling to clear up financial reporting from the fiscal year that ended June 30 as well as gather data on the current year, Kyle offered to simplify the task by covering two years in his next report -- and to provide staff support to Grambling. Warner and officials of the University of Louisiana System, which includes Grambling, accepted the offer.

University of Louisiana System President Sally Clausen said she is confident Grambling will fix its problem, partly through staff changes and better training.

"We are now operating under the principle that nobody escapes performing up to standard," she said. "That's true of Grambling and our other institutions."

Another member of the eight-university system, the University of Louisiana at Monroe, had been placed on warning status because of audit problems, and that status has been extended by a year. Clausen said she is confident that campus is resolving its fiscal issues.

Among other decisions announced Tuesday, the Commission on Colleges renewed general accreditation for Tulane University for 10 years.
 
Originally posted by SAME OLD G
Bg,

I see this issue really has your attention.
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I like to keep up with current events. Did you know that Prez Bush is pulling the U.S. out of the ABM (Antiballistic Missile) Treaty signed in 1972 by Prez Nixon?
 
I was privy to information that Sally Clausen was focusing her efforts on getting ULM's matters resolved through political manuevering and placement of an advisory team from the legislative auditors at ULM. She pretty much was leaving GSU out to dry. However, we too have some connections and made a few calls to Leonard Haynes (Southern) and Secretary Page (Jackson State) to get some assistance. As true brothers, they made calls to the right people to let it be known that GSU was to get equal treatment in helping to resolve this problem.
 
I know Dr. Leonard Haynes. I'm good friends with his children. They all live in D.C. Didn't he serve as some type of interim president or something for you all a couple years ago? My prayers are with you, Grambling.
 
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