By Kyeland Jackson —
After a visit with U of L’s accrediting agency, Interim President Greg Postel is confident the university has tackled accreditation issues.
Postel and university board chair, David Grissom, visited the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools on Aug. 15. Postel said the visit, scheduled to build rapport with SACS and discuss accrediting issues, went “very well.”
“I felt good before (the visit) and I felt good after,” Postel said. “We know what the issues are … I felt confident that we have addressed them, that we have explained that really well in our responses, and when their site visit committee comes in September we’ll be able to show them that.”
SACS’ site committee will come to campus Sept. 19, checking the university’s progress in fixing accreditation violations. SACS placed U of L on probation because Governor Matt Bevin reorganized the university’s board of trustees, citing three possible accreditation violations. Since then, a state audit has unearthed dysfunction at U of L, the interim president and other top administrators resigned and an internal audit found about $100 million in university money was lost.
Now, U of L has racked up a total of nine potential accrediting violations.
SACS will review info from its visiting committee then determine U of L’s fate in December. The accrediting body could return U of L’s accreditation, extend probation another year or revoke it. If U of L loses accreditation, academic degrees lose value, credits from U of L will not transfer, federal financial aid will not be available and the university cannot participate in the NCAA.
Postel assures the university will likely retain its accreditation. He said Aug. 15’s visit may not have changed the accreditation process, but says there would be no reason to visit SACS before December.
“I really think we’ve gone above and beyond to address the concerns (SACS) raised,” Postel said. “I continue to feel better each day because I see the work our people’s doing to prepare for the site visit and each day the documents become more mature and ready to submit.”
File Photo / The Louisville Cardinal
