Breaking News - Morris Brown Loses Accreditation
 

This is truly a sad day for Morris Brown - and all HBCU's...

Any Morris Brown alums in the house?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: BREAKING NEWS
Morris Brown loses accreditation

By ANDREA JONES
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Morris Brown College today learned it will lose its accreditation -- a devastating blow that will strip the school of the federal financial aid most students depend on to help pay their college expenses.
The 117-year-old historically black school has been dealing with mounting financial debt and federal scrutiny for more than a year and had hopes that it was finally on the right track.

Morris Brown's accrediting agency, the Decatur-based Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, clearly disagreed.

The agency's commission, made of 77 high-ranking officials--- mostly college presidents and chancellors --- yanked the school's accreditation Monday, during a national meeting in San Antonio.

College president Charles Taylor announced the decision at a campuswide meeting with students and faculty this afternoon.

Morris Brown was founded in 1885 by the African Methodist Episcopal Church Ñ and is the only Georgia college founded by blacks.

One of six schools in the Atlanta University Center, Morris Brown's mission has been in part, to educate students who might not have had the opportunity to go to college otherwise.

Notable alumni include the late civil rights activist Hosea Williams and Pulitzer Prize-winning author James McPherson.

You know, when I saw this in the paper, I thought that it may have just been a rumor. (You remember when that rumor that all of those HBCUs were closing...including Allen here in Columbia?)

So I am not all that familiar with this, what does this mean for those progressing seniors who would graduate next semester and such...will their degrees not mean anything? Does anyone know? If that is the case, that is really horrible!

Need to preserve HBCUs
 

I'm not an HBCU alumna, but my mother attended Howard for two years in the late 1940s before she had to drop out for lack of $$$.

I want to see such schools preserved because our kids may need them more than ever if the Supreme Court kills off affirmative action admissions, which may happen by next June. And I think it's going to happen. :mad:

The court agreed to review the 1978 Bakke case, which concerns how colleges and universities use race in admission standards.

The Morris Brown story is very unsettling, and I do feel sorry for those young people.:(

this is so sad. this school is unique among the AUC institutions as of the four undergrad schools, it was the only one founded by Blacks for Blacks. this is terrible for me as a Spelman alum and as the cousin of a Morris Brown alum:( :confused: :( :confused: what about those that are there? what will they do?

Sorry to intrude on your board, but I wanted to post this link http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...atoday/4687048 which talks a little more about the specifics for the accreditation review, and also about the impacts on students and student enrollment. I haven't seen anything yet about the decision on Grambling State. This is very sad indeed.

SACS met with our acting President, Soror Neari Warner (Alpha Theta shout out! ) today in San Antonio...
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpa...ambling10.html

Isn't it funny that in this article it is revealed that the PWI 30 miles east of Grambling is having difficulties too? I think I mentioned how the PWI aren't "pubbed" as much as the HBCUs. In fact, it wasn't mentioned on the local tube or anything, but good ole GSU was. :rolleyes: I wasn't lying when I said it, and now, an article to back me up. (Just go back to the thread in this forum or the DST forum if you don't believe me.) That chit makes me :mad:

:rolleyes:

I'm not a Morris Brown alum, but I am an AUC alum (Spelman grad). When i read this I felt really bad for them. Even though I didn't go there, I still feel as though it's a blow to the entire AUC.:( :( :(

Re: Need to preserve HBCUs
 

I know that many people are sad over this, but is it because the school is closing or because the students were receiving a sub-standard education? If the education wasn't where it was supposed to be, isn't it best that they close instead of passing students that are un-prepared to compete in society????

Also, regarding affirmative action, have we really reached a point in our community where we think our children NEED affirmative action to get into universities. I would argue that our children need a restoration of Intellectualism. Black people don't need to be GIVEN anything, we need to work for it. That should be the attitude we force our children to adopt, instead of pushing affirmative action down their throat....and having them rely on it so much to the point that they feel hopeless without it.

Just my 6 cents...

OOps.....my conservativism slipped out again :p

Affirmative action is still very needed. Why, because resources are still not equal. I am in education and I see the differences between schools with a majority of white students and ones with a majority of black/latino students. I attending Spelman also, and I feel that the loss of Morris Brown will greatly change the dynamic of the AUC. I really do not feel the students at Morris Brown were receiving a substandard education. The same is true of Grambling. Both my parents attended Grambling, along with several family members.

Recently, a friend and I were talking about the Morris Brown situation. We basically surmised that as alums of HBCU's we need to contribute to our schools. He even suggested a AUC wide fundraiser. I think it would be effective, but the problem exists with the mismanagement of funds. We need people in those positions who know what they are doing.

Says who?
 

Substandard? Whose measuring stick are we using? Why is it that we have seen a rising trend in non-AA enrolling in these HBCUs? Why are the Engineering departments and Nursing departments being bombarded with NON-AAs? I guess for that SUBstandard education? :confused: :rolleyes: Oh, let's not forget law schools. I guess those are substandard attorneys.

Substandard? I guess all graduates of HBCUs are living in substandard conditions with substandard lives?

Never have...never will.

:cool:

Re: Re: Need to preserve HBCUs
 

I'm with you about the restoration of intellectualism. I look at affirmative action as a foot in the door. If "others" feel that they need to do it, why not take advantage of it?

I don't feel any guilt. I went to my PWI, worked hard, got my degree. I may have been an AA admit (my SATs were 960 back in 1982). But I used it to get where I needed to be.

And yes, we should have prepared ourselves for the eventual end of affirmative action back in the 80s, during the Reagan years. I suppose, however, we got a reprieve w/Clinton.
:rolleyes:

Re: Says who?
 

Well, if those who hand out accredidations have found through their own research, studies, etc. that Morris Brown needs to lose their accredidation, I will have to say that is substandard. I don't think that Morris Brown was singled out, they just weren't making the grade. And any school for that matter who isn't up to par Is and should be treated the same. HBCU's are no exception.

And as far as Non-AA's attending HBCU's, most that I talk to and ask why ONLY give the financial aspect as their reasoning. It's either cheap...or they're getting a scholarship. But again, I am speaking from my own personal experience.

And I'm sorry if HBCU alums are offended by this, but facts are facts. Howard as an institution cannot compete with the resources that Duke or Stanford has. I'm not just trying to down HBCU's, I'm just looking at the issue. I've been on both sides of the coin, so I'm speaking from my own personal experience, as well as those that I know.

And as for affirmative action, I think anytime you make someone work hard (even if it's harder than the next person) for something, it builds character. But when you give them something just based on the color of their skin, that doesn't build character. It starts a trend of people beginning to expect things because of their skin color, not their ability. I agree that there are differences in the education that some students receive, but the way to combat that problem is not to "give" them something because of that. OUr community needs to adopt a stricter work ethic and not feed into the idea that society owes us something. My founders didn't have affirmative action, and they excelled because they chose to. They couldn't afford to wait until someone gave them something. They had to get up, get out and get it themselves!



AN Aside...White women are the major beneficiaries of affirmative action, not blacks!!! :eek: :eek:

I don't know about MB's case, but for Grambling, the issue wasn't what was or wasn't learned or taught. It was for issues that students nor teachers had any control over. Whatever administrators, politicians or the UL system decided, we could not and cannot control.

Like I said before, most universities have issues, it's just that some have the dollars to cover it up, while others do not. On the other hand, the members of the media are/ could be financial supporters/backers or graduates of the institution which would account for not hearing about such details.

Someone made a good point earlier. Many of us graduate and do not support our institutions unless it's homecoming. :rolleyes: It has to change. You need to know what's going on. Find your local alumni chapter become a member or start one. The motto of our local alumni chapter is "Become the change you want to see."

LMAO @ cheap. If you say so, being enrolled in 2 HBCUs for a total of 5 years, I didn't have to receive any student loans, nor did I receive one grant. So, I guess it was cheap...

BUT IT'S PAID FOR and I worked damn hard, too!

:cool:

GSU Alumni
Wilfred Crosby Chapter
Life Member

2D, I agree with you all the way. As an alum of the UL system, I know that there are a lot of deals that go on behind the scenes. At my UG, the alumni and members of the community came together to support the efforts of the school when money was needed, etc. There were PLENTY of incidents that went on, but because it was a PWI and members of the media "forgot" to report these things. :rolleyes: Oh, but let the smallest thing happen at an HBCU and it's all over the news at 5, 6, and 10. We have to support our schools. If we don't, who will?

As for affirmative action, I don't feel that we NEED it, but I will not downplay it. Affirmative action may be the reason that some of us are where we are today, whether we know it or not. I am not saying do away with it and I am not it's biggest supporter, either. Of course, we all need to do things for ourselves and anything that we achieve is better if it is earned instead of given. Affirmative action juts give some of us the chance to get on the playing field to prove ourselves. Sure, affirmative action can get us jobs, in school, etc. It doesn't matter to me how we get there, but it's what we do when we get there that counts.

Finally, I will never down an HBCU. To say that an HBCU offers a substandard education is a slap in the face. Louisiana alone has Xavier University that has one of THE BEST pharmacy schools in the country. Dillard boasts a great nursing program. Grambling offers a wide variety of great programs, as well as Southern U., which has it's own law school. People attend our HBCUs for the education, heritage, brother/sisterhood, etc., not because it is four blocks from home and they can walk to school or because tuition is only $1,500 a semester. we have to give our schools more credit than that.

I'm also not a huge supporter of it. I consider AA a necessary evil and believe that many of those who are against it -- Justice Thomas, Ward Connerly -- have provided no workable alternatives.

But I really appreciate RedefinedDiva's statement.
http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmili...mile/claps.gif

Re: Re: Says who?
 

Interesting point Lovespell; however, one thing you raised made me question. You said that when people are given things based on color, they start to expect things to be given to them. That's true and it's certainly been that way for white people for a very looooooooooooooooong time which, in my opinion, is EXACTLY why they don't want affirmative action in place anymore. White people will always be given things and have special privileges simply BECAUSE of their skin color. If equality is the issue when it comes to affirmative action, then shouldn't black people, ALL people, be given things based on color. I certainly don't agree with that. But if we use the argument that things are given based on skin color, then affirmative action is the solution.

I have to agree with PearlEssence. There was a story in the paper of two white women who were suing Univ. of Michigan because they didn't get into law school. Now, they had good grades and scores and what not but are suing because they feel they weren't let in because African Am. and Latina/os were instead. Here is my issue...
I think affirmative action can also be a foot in the door BUT white people use it to make a case out of any case. An Af.Am person with the same scores, same grades and eveything doesn't get in and we "learn" to just say "Maybe it wasn't meant to be?" No, we KNOW it's because of our skin color. However, do we press charges and sue, no, we move on to the next campus/job. White folks on the other hand not only have the resources to sue but feel they have a right to sue...that they DESERVE to be at xyz University. It's f____ up y'all. And it will get worse. Now, I don't agree with the "save 15 slots for Blacks and Latinos" jive but I know at UCLA (remember prop 209...yeah, though so) they admitted a little over 100 Black folks last year OUT OF 30,000 STUDENTS!!!

That's ridiculous. And the white folks are mediocre to say the least. I just feel that it gives admissions committees the "right" to just say "f___ 'em. We don't HAVE to take them so screw 'em." It's not right.

Oh yeah, King Drew University JUST lost it's accredication for one of the departments in its medical school like yesterday, as well. Drew is the ONLY Black medical school in California and affiliated with MLK Hospital in Compton/Los Angeles/Watts whatever.

I don't think MB will close. The accreditation issue means they have to get some things in order. One of which may me grades others of which may be purely bureaucratic.

It's goin' down! Y'all ready for a revolution?

Your first point is quite inaccurate as much of what we have as a result of Affirmative Action is a direct result of legal action. And, we continue to bring racial discrimination suits all of the time.

As to the second point. Test scores are not the only problem. The last administration mishandled money so poorly that the school is millions of dollars in debt. And, since losing its accreditation, it has lost federal funds and is under investigation for mismanagement of these funds.

****
****
The only thing that can save them would be something along the lines of "Bill Gates" money. Something, I personally, don't see coming in the near future. The MBC admin. saw this coming and should have made preparations to shut down the school in time for their students to transfer to other schools.

It is the alumni who are so proud of their HBCUs that should be as eager to support them and ensure that they never have to close their doors. We should not shoot the messengers as the headlines, so far, have told no lies.

As for Afirmative Action-- the sooner we get that monkey off our backs the better off we will be. As Love Spell 6 said, we are not even the greatest beneficiaries. And, most of us have not benefited from it at all, so what exactly are we holding on to? Affirmative Action is an illusion. And, with the information and resources that we have available at our disposal today, it is absurd to argue that we need to be given the benefit of the doubt when we do not perform at a certain level. Instead of talking about how hard it is to be Black in America, we should actually live it and worker harder for what we want.

Too bad for MBC, but for some reason, I can't seem to feel sad.

I'm sorry, despite your intentions, your statements were offensive. I received my undergraduate education at Spelman and my graduate education at UCLA. I can look at this situation from both sides of the fence as well. I firmly believed that the education I received at Spelman as an undergraduate was better than the one I would have received at UCLA. I say this because of my many encounters with people who attended Cal, UCLA, or other top ten schools. The fact that you stated that students receive a substandard education at HBCU's is not true. I cannot count the number of HBCU educated people who have won national awards, received acceptance into top ten graduate programs, and who are movers and shakers in their respective fields. I mean, if Spelman had a graduate program, I would have continued my education there. Please know that HBCU graduates are well-prepared and competitive. Top companies do not come to recruit there because we are Black, but because they realize that we are the best and the brightest.


Ok, I'm sorry. I just had to vent. I still see the need for affirmative action. I am in education, and every day I see the differences in schools that have a majority of Black/Latino students and ones that are predominately white. We do not have the same access to technology, books, or highly trained teachers. It is unfair and cruel to measure students who do not even have a desk or a textbook with students in Beverly Hills who have access to the latest resources. I am speaking as someone who has not benefited from affirmative action. Even though I have never benefited from it, I still see the need. Affirmative action is not rewarding people who CAN'T do the job/work, but allowing those people who would be denied because of their sex or skin color, a chance.

I'm guessing your comments were directed at my post, but even if they weren't, I'll respond anyway.

I'm glad that you enjoyed your education at Spelman. That's great. But as I said, I was speaking from MY experience and those that I know. Many people leave HBCU's dis-satisfied with the way they were treated, and refuse to donate $$ back to the school. If your experience was different, that's cool, I was just speaking from another perspective.

Also, please re-read my post. I did make a blanket statement that said all students at HBCU's receive a sub-standard education. I asserted that if the accredidation is lost, one can reasonably deduce that in some way, shape, or form...the school was sub-standard.

And lastly, do you really believe that top companies go to HBCU's mostly because they feel they are the best and the brightest? Better than Harvard or Yale grads? Maybe that's what they say....but in the board room...many times it comes down to that bottom line....diversity, quotas....etc. And before anyone takes that statement and runs with it....I am not saying that all HBCU grads are inferior or stupid. I'm just speaking about what goes on.

I know that's not what anyone wants to hear, but that's just facts.

I respect your viewpoint, I just differ on some points.

Let's agree to disagree
 

I respect your opinion as well, but I disagree. I will admit that my best and brightest comment was just HBCU pride speaking. However, I do believe that recruiters know that we are Black and we have the skills to back it up. I'm sorry if I misunderstood your previous post, but when you mentioned that Howard was inferior to Duke, I felt that was a blanket statement. I will acknowledge that all HBCU's are not elite institutions, but you should acknowledge that some of them are. I still think that I can hang with a Princeton/Yale graduate. For all of my faults, the one thing that I do not suffer from is low self esteem. I realize that I am not a genius, but I will not bow down to someone because they have a degree from Harvard or Yale. I mean, George W. went to Yale, and I KNOW I'm smarter than him. I just have a different outlook. I still believe that if HBCU students were not prepared, they would not be able to retain the jobs that they were supposely receiving due to affirmative action.

I agree with both!
 

I'm coming at the perspective of another on this particular subject "The Black Male Athlete". Our role in the collegiate system is the MAJOR reason why alot of these debates are happening today. Up until the 1970's it wasn't a question where the top BM athletes were going to college, Morehouse, MB, JCSU, TSU, NCA&T, GSU, just to name a few. Now it's either the pro's or Notre Dame, MINN, UofI, Duke, UNC, etc. the HWI (historically white institutions) have taken our best and brightest from the classrooms also. As we have become richer and more "valuable" in our adult lives many have forgotten the Hood and taken on the suburban mentality. Alot of us forgot where we came from and have taken on a new meaning of what it means to be Black in America. I myself went also to both Institutions and can say it was like night and day. I was a star track athlete in H.S. and was heavily recruioted by many of the HWI in the country and in the area. But that's not where i wanted to be so I went to and HBCU instead and tried to be a walk on, I was told #1 we don't do Track scholarships and #2 we really don't have uniforms so you have to buy your own. I was like WTF is this! In the same breath the coach with his greasy self said that I would have play football also if I wanted a scholarship for track. Now I know a little bit about NCAA rules and you MUST ALLLOCATE THE SAME AMOUNT OF SCHOLARSHIPS per sport. well at this HBCU and many others they don't. I ended up transferring to an HWI where I was treated like a king for track we ended up winning the NCAA natonal championships and the rest is history. The main problems I see with HBCU' s is that they #1 don't treat the college students as adults and #2 the flaunt this gaudiness in the students face like they are the Sh^T or something. I mean at the HWI I attended I was able to go to the presidents office and eat lunch with him, shoot the breeze and whatever and not because I was an athlete but because he knew I helped pay his paycheck. At the HBCU that was physically impossible, I would get the runnaround and don't even talk about the financial aid office, losing checks, no staff, people putting their friends on the payroll, just straight unprofessional. Now don't get me wrong the HWI had issues also but nothing this severe.

Now lastly to address about whom corporations are going to for recruiting, it's like this, they look at four main things: accredidation, relationship with the company, credit hours taken and past performance of previous alumnus at the company. Now at the company I work for they have basically stopped going to certain HBCU's because of past employee issues (fighting on the job, cursing out the mgr., not showing up to work, etc.). Now I know that those are primarilly independent issues but if you had your own company and this happened would you think twice?

And some advice to anyone at an HBCU now: Find, if you can, the curriculum for your degree that you are majoring in at a major HWI. If they are taking advanced Mth classes and not just the minimum-do that! If the business students must subscribe to WSJ, and one othe financial magazine- DO That!( I just so happen to know those are two things they do at a prestigious HWI on the east coast where the average graduate earns 75k starting). and don't just take the min. credit hours I know you wanna graduate on tim but ain't no shame in graduating in five years.

Good luck my black people and to those at MBC my prayers are with you!

The issue with MB is not that the education is "substandard." The issue is misuse of federal financial aid funds. Accreditation determines whether a school gets federal aid funds. The logic behind MB losing accreditation is that if you take away the funds, they won't be misused.

Today
 

THis afternoon at 3pm (EST) on NPR (National Public Radio) they will be discussing this issue, why some HBCU's thrive and other's don't, and whether or not HBCU's are still relevant in today's world.

----
OH Goodness, where do I start. Some points have been made about SOME HBCU behavior that is well, less that stella. I can certainly relate to the whole financial aid office ATTITUDES, and such. Sometimes I can see why most of us do nto support our alma maters. At my HBCU, not only did we have "summer camp" rules(our dorm had curfew hours, males had to leave by 10pm, etc.), but our admin did not care how they treated us. We were babied. I think the majority of our college staff felt like they could treat us like this because they knew that they would not see any of us after we graduate. Shoot, our campus police sometimes acted like they worked in OZ :eek: and not a a college! Now after going through mess like that for four years, I am not surprise to hear my fellow alums say "Funk our HBCU"!

For some reason HWI know that if for the majority of their students tenture, if they treat them decent and like adults while there, they will support them. HWI's alumni will look back at the good times that they had (going greek, having dorms with no rules, food courts, etc.) and will feel good. Most of us look back, and get P.O.!


Not to hijack the thread into a controversial topic, but I think melanin-challenged people do not have a problem "hooking each other up" when it benefits THEIR best interest. For some reason, we haven't grasp that concept yet.

]

This statment is inaccurate. Accreditation is about MUCH more than determining whether a school gets federal funds:


The following link describes in detail what accreditation does for a university. And further, MOST graduate schools will not recognize degrees from universities that are not accredited.

http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/accred.../accredus.html

Your deduction is inaccurate as well. But fine, for symantics sake, PART of the accreditation process is determining whether a school received federal funding. From the link YOU provided: "Providing one of several considerations used as a basis for determining eligibility for Federal assistance."

That still does not change the LOGIC behind why MB lost accreditation. The point is MB was not using federal financial aid funds for what they were supposed to be used. Anyone who has been following this story would know that. But hey, if you want to believe that MB lost accreditation because it provides substandard education ...

Whoa Soror! Seems you are getting offensive. I was simply pointing out that there was more to accreditation. No need to get hostile!

I hope the link provides helpful information for those that don't know as much as you do about this.

That is the reason why Morris Brown is not accredited anymore-the administration was misusing federal funds. It doesn't have anything to do with the quality of education at that institution.

I was hearing today that this semester could be MB's last one. I work at Georgia State, where I'm also a student. Our Associate Provost has already been approached by graduating MB Seniors who are trying to transfer to GSU so they can graduate on time. However, they may not be able to because the deadline has passed for that already.

I feel for those students who have worked hard to obtain a degree and they have to suffer. As a graduating Senior (in May) I can sympathize with them....I hope that everything works out for them. All of this is certainly not their fault, but they are feeling the fallout.

I didn't read any of the links, I just wanted to add this information to the discussion.

Are you guys certain MB will close or is that a guess? Losing one's accreditation does not require a school close, it just means it needs to get its act together.

In the late eighties/early nineties MIT lost its ABET (engineering) accreditation. You can see it has rebounded quite nicely.

Whether MB will close or not is up to the administrators. The accreditation that MB lost is for the school, not just one department/degree program, so the entire student body is affected. This does have an impact, especially on graduating seniors & I would hope that the other colleges & universities in the AUC and in Atlanta will take that into consideration when dealing with those MB students who choose to transfer.

Clark Atlanta fights for survival
Budget crisis: University plans layoffs, possible cuts in academic programs.

By ANDREA JONES
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

• Atlanta/South Metro community page



Struggling to avoid financial disaster, Clark Atlanta University plans to slash spending by 20 percent, forcing layoffs and possible cuts to academic programs, school officials say.

The school's president, Walter Broadnax, said Clark Atlanta -- one of the six schools that make up the Atlanta University Center -- has been operating beyond its means for many years.

"We are facing substantial financial challenges," he said. "The bottom-line truth is that there is a gap that has occurred between our expenditures and revenues."

Broadnax, who took over for retiring President Thomas Cole in August 2002, said the financial woes have deepened in recent years as funding sources dried up in the downturned economy. Last year, the university overspent its $100 million budget by $7.5 million.

Clark Atlanta University is the second historically black school in the AU Center to be buffeted by serious financial problems this year.

In April, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools yanked Morris Brown College's accreditation, citing major problems with financial aid, record-keeping and institutional effectiveness. Morris Brown also is the focus of a federal fraud investigation into alleged mismanagement.

Unlike its hapless neighbor, Clark Atlanta has a growing enrollment, no short-term debt and a substantial endowment of about $30 million, which Clark officials say they will not use to pay bills. Most funds in endowments are earmarked for specific uses.

The 5,000-student school remains fully accredited and is not scheduled to undergo the Southern Association's stringent reaffirmation process until 2006, when representatives will visit Clark Atlanta and examine its financial health and academic programs. The private school must be free of operating debt at that time or face possible sanctions, according to the accrediting agency's rules.

Clark Atlanta currently has no financial reserves and a long-term debt of about $55 million, most of it payments on bonds for construction projects, according to financial statements provided by the school.

Clark Atlanta has the lowest possible rating for investment-grade bonds. If the university does not make budget cuts, it could risk missing bond payments, which could allow creditors to demand early repayment of the full debt, according to the financial statements.

Broadnax said the school is not currently in danger of that happening. He said the school will reduce its expenses by 20 percent -- $14 million -- in the coming fiscal year to get back in the black.

The cuts will translate into layoffs, which will begin in the next few weeks, he said. He would not say how many people might lose their jobs. The school also has started a campaign to strictly enforce tuition collection and prevent students who have not paid their bills from attending classes.

Figures show that over the last eight years, the school has collected only about half the money owed by students. In 2002, for example, the school collected just $5.5 million of the more than $10 million due in student accounts. Annual tuition is $12,312.

An analysis by Dun & Bradstreet gave Clark Atlanta the financial rater's worst possible credit score, saying the school pays its bills an average of 29 days late.

Broadnax said summer months are the most difficult for the cash-strapped school, and small vendors especially are often paid late.

"There is simply not enough cash flowing through," he said.

The school instituted a hiring freeze in February and has begun offering early retirement to eligible staff members to cut costs. Twenty employees have taken the buyout, which will save the school about $1.2 million in salaries and benefits, school officials said.

The cuts in programs will be phased in over the coming school year, but the specifics have not been worked out, officials said.

Broadnax said drastic changes are necessary to keep the school afloat. "These sorts of cuts cause tremendous anxiety on campuses," he said. "But we simply cannot continue on the path we were on."

Colleges and universities around the country are grappling with budget cuts and funding issues.

William Gray, president of the United Negro College Fund, said historically black colleges are especially hard hit in a bad economy because they rely heavily on corporations and foundations -- instead of alumni -- for money.

"Corporations give out of their profits, and if there are no profits, there's no giving," he said. "Foundations give out of their assets, and if there are no assets, there's no giving."

Clark Atlanta University was formed in 1988 with the consolidation of Clark College and Atlanta University, which were both struggling financially. But the new school never fully merged programs, Broadnax said, causing duplication in staff and programs that has remained to this day.

Until 2002, the school also had been budgeting one-time cash donations into the operating budget, which masked the level of financial stress in audits, Broadnax said. "This is not something that happened overnight," the school president said.

The proposed staff cuts and program changes have led to contention among some of the 330 faculty members. Students and staff packed campus meetings as Broadnax's message of cutbacks spread. Some faculty members circulated memos alleging corruption among top officials.

Clark Atlanta's former attorney, Michael Baskin, sued the school in March, claiming he was fired for speaking out about wrongdoing at the school. He had said some alumni fraudulently claimed tuition payments as tax-deductible contributions.

The school countersued and settled the case last month for about $215,000, according to the Fulton Daily Report. Under the terms of the agreement, neither side is to discuss specifics of the case.

Broadnax said the cutbacks will strengthen the school in the long run.

"This is the courageous thing to do," he said.

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/30/St...moil_rac.shtml

Financial turmoil racks FAMU

C St. Petersburg Times, published 2003-11-30 10:00:00 Etc/GMT


TALLAHASSEE - Florida A&M University is on the brink of financial
disaster. The books of the historically black university are off by
$1.8-million. Students get financial aid months late. A former employee
is accused of questionable spending while others face theft charges.
Sloppy business practices might have cost hundreds of thousands of
dollars.

It got so bad that state financial chief Tom Gallagher
this month took a rare and drastic step: He cut off pay to the FAMU
president and 18 top administrators until they turned over crucial
financial records that were six weeks late.

"It's not something
we like doing," said Gallagher, who also temporarily suspended payments
to FAMU vendors. "But they needed to take it seriously."

Last
week, some members of the school's governing board said they had lost
confidence in president Fred Gainous, citing a "leadership crisis" in
the day-to-day operations of a school near the "financial brink."


"Some things we deeply regret," said Gainous, who succeeded longtime
FAMU president Frederick Humphries in 2002. "There was a lot to be done.
There still is a lot to be done to move the university forward. We must
get our financial house in order."

The Board of Governors,
which oversees higher education in Florida, will launch an investigation
this week. The state is auditing FAMU's books. Irate alumni have
threatened to sue over the mismanagement. School officials are
postponing a capital campaign and questioning whether under the
circumstances they are ready to move their football program to the elite
Division I-A.

It has been a hard fall for FAMU, which just six
years ago was named the nation's College of the Year by Time magazine
and the Princeton Review. The scandal has left the 116-year-old school
of 13,000 students suffering a national embarrassment.

"All of
this has been a tremendous blow to the university," said Jim Corbin,
chairman of the school's board of trustees. "I don't think there's !
any excu
se for it. We ought to be able to handle it like every other
school."



Sophomore Kelven
Davis didn't get his $2,000 in financial aid this semester from FAMU
until November. It was the second year in a row the check came months
late.

Davis, 19, of Lake Wales had to convince his landlord he
would eventually make good on his debt.

"I really don't know
what the problem is," said Davis, who last week was not able to find out
when another check would arrive because the school's computer system was
down. "They just get behind."

It has been that way for
years.

The Tallahassee school educates some of the nation's
brightest black students, competing with Harvard University every year
to see who can enroll the most. After almost collapsing in the 1970s,
FAMU earned national acclaim in the 1990s under Humphries, the popular
former president.

But his 16-year tenure also was dogged by one
financial crisis after another.

The school faced state and
federal investigations of its financial aid office, which doles out
$100-million each year in payments to more than 90 percent of the
student body. It also had trouble meeting its payroll.

"Dr.
Humphries has to accept a large responsibility for this," Corbin said.
"He left the place in a financial mess."

Now, two years after
Humphries' departure, school officials say they are just beginning to
learn of the problems he left behind. Humphries adamantly rejects the
criticism.

"I left no problems for FAMU," he said in an
interview last week.

Steve Uhlfelder, a member of the Board of
Governors and its predecessor, said state leaders knew about the
school's problems but never fully dealt with them because they were
afraid to be too hard on a black school.

"I'm not sure we were
always tough enough because we were afraid of criticism. We walked on
eggshells with Florida A&M University," he said. "But I don't think this
is excusable !
at any u
niversity. It's just not acceptable. It's beyond comprehension."


The school failed to follow its policies and procedures or standard
business practices, such as balancing the books every month. Offices
that deal with finances haven't been modernized, leaving employees to
use paper instead of computers. A federal grant intended to strengthen
curriculum and student services was used for unapproved expenses, such
as travel to London and Paris for the former grant director. And when
Humphries served as a FAMU consultant this year, the grant paid some
travel costs that Gainous questioned.

Recent internal
investigations also show the school often used purchase orders instead
of more strict written contracts; planned to overspend for leased space;
and contracted twice for the same consulting work.

After
discovering accounting problems, Gainous' staff examined a decade of
completed budgets. The numbers, the president said, did not add
up.

The construction budget was off by more than $3-million.
The school spent $3-million from a grant program, but it never billed
the federal government for reimbursement. About $1.5-million in surplus
funds from last year had to be used to pay contractors who had never
been paid.

"This is the absolute worst it's been," said Al
McCoy, 75, a St. Petersburg native and a FAMU alum who worked there as
director of alumni affairs and the boosters. "It's the most humiliating,
embarrassing thing. It's not good at all."

Before the fall
semester, two former employees were charged with stealing more than
$21,000 by diverting almost a dozen financial aid checks to themselves.
Their boss, the school's vice president, left shortly before Gainous
arrived in July 2002 and has not been replaced. Gainous forced out three
other longtime financial administrators for failing to follow business
practices.

Gainous persuaded his friend Tom Hanna, a former
vice president at nearby Tallahassee Community College, to come out of
retirement!
and ser
ve as interim financial chief. But Gallagher and school trustees were
appalled to learn Hanna went on a three-week hunting trip to Canada
during much of the latest financial crisis. He returns this week.


The most recent trouble began Sept. 30, when FAMU missed the deadline
for key financial records that would account for more than $100-million
of taxpayer money spent last year. Without them, Florida's bond and
credit ratings were in jeopardy.

After several warnings,
Gallagher suspended payments to companies doing business with FAMU on
Oct. 31. A week later, he paid the vendors but halted paychecks totaling
$54,506.52 to 19 administrators until the paperwork came in Nov.
18.

"It is extreme but appropriate," said Carolyn Roberts,
chairman of the Board of Governors, who has been in contact with FAMU
and state officials. "There are rules we go by."

FAMU officials
hired private auditors and solicited help from rival Florida State
University, working into the night for days to complete the books that
detail how the $400-million budget was spent.

"What kind of
appearance does this give?" said Robin Kennedy, a FAMU physics professor
for 13 years. "They still can't get the trains to run on time."

FAMU trustees began the arduous task
last week of trying to fix the school's problems. But first they wanted
to point fingers for the mess.

They alternated much of the
blame between Humphries and Gainous, who remained stoic as trustees
berated him and questioned his credibility during a tense meeting last
week.

Humphries, who resigned in 2001 to lead a Washington
organization that supports the nation's historically black schools, said
financial audits show he left FAMU free of problems.

"If there
are difficulties, they didn't happen under my watch," he said.


Humphries acknowledged some trouble in the financial aid office during
his tenure, but he said he hired one of the best administrato!
rs in th
e country to fix them. She left after he did.

Gainous, a FAMU
alumnus and Tallahassee native who was hired amid much fanfare last
year, knew the school had some problems when he took the job. He talked
of beginning the "healing process," fired top administrators and
insisted on more technology and accountability.

But last week
angry trustees blamed him for not disclosing the severity of the
problems and for failing to make solving them a priority. They said
Gainous waited too late in the year to start on the financial statements
and questioned why the school doesn't balance its books every
month.

"At no time was this board made aware of the dire state
of the financials," trustee Challis Lowe said. "I have a sense once
again that we are brushing over things in a superficial way."


Gainous, who has had to answer to the state's chancellor and the Board
of Governors, apologized to the trustees.

"What happened should
never have happened," he said. "It is simply events - some that should
have been controlled and some we found out and attempted to fix."


On campus last week, some students said they supported Gainous, who has
made an effort to meet students since his arrival.

"It seems
kind of wrong they are coming down on Dr. Gainous," said Marie Edwards,
an 18-year-old sophomore from South Carolina. "It's only his second
year. They really can't blame him. There were problems when he came
here."

Carolyn Collins, president of FAMU's national alumni
association representing 50,000 former students, downplayed FAMU's role
in the problems. Instead, she blamed Gov. Jeb Bush's swift and dramatic
change in how the state universities are governed, which left them
unprepared to take on responsibilities that had been administered by the
state.

For example, last year was the first time the school had
to turn over financial records directly to the state.

"I'm sure
the governor didn't want us to fail," Collins said. "I'm not sur!
e what t
he plan was."



FAMU is working
with the state to track down the unaccounted for $1.8-million. It is
paying auditors more than $80,000 to help determine which business
practices need to be improved. It is searching for a new financial
chief.

"We need an understanding of what broke down in the
system," trustee Bill Jennings said. "And what steps are being taken so
this doesn't happen again."

Meanwhile, trustees have hired a
consultant to evaluate Gainous to determine whether he should remain at
the helm while they begin the slow process of rebuilding FAMU's
tarnished reputation.

"We flew by night," trustee Barney Bishop
said. "We can't allow FAMU to fly by night anymore."

Bill
Tucker, FAMU Faculty Union president, encouraged trustees last week to
keep asking tough questions. He said he thinks other financial problems
will surface before FAMU will be able to move on.

"It's not
over yet," he said. "It'll be back."

- Times researcher Cathy
Wos contributed to this report.

class=subhed>Troubles at Florida A&M

Who's involved Fred Gainous, FAMU president, under fire for not
taking financial problems seriously enough

Frederick Humphries,
former president, blamed by some for "financial mess," denies leaving
problems for successor

Tom Gallagher, state financial chief,
withheld paychecks to 19 top FAMU officials to force them to turn over
financial statements

Board of Trustees, cites "leadership
crisis' at FAMU, hires consultant to evaluate whether Gainous should
remain in charge

The
problems

* Books off by $1.8-million * Students get financial aid months
late

* $1.5-million needed to pay overdue bills

*
Contracted twice for the same consulting work

* Federal grants
for students covered inappropriate travel expenses

* Two
employees face criminal theft charges

class=subhed>What's next

* Board of Governors to launch an investigation this week *
FAMU's interim financial chief returns from three-week hunting trip this
week

* State auditing university books

* FAMU paying
auditors $80,000 to help improve business practices

<font
face=Arial size=3 class=subhed>FAMU facts

FOUNDED: 1887 as the Colored Normal School with 15 students
LOCATION: main campus in Tallahassee, law school in Orlando


STUDENTS: 13,000

ALUMNI: 50,000 across the world


FACULTY: 1,200 (700 full-time)

ANNUAL BUDGET:
$400-million

ENDOWMENT: $69-million

AVERAGE GRADE
POINT OF ADMITTED FRESHMEN: 3.18

class=subhed>SIGNIFICANT FACTS:

- Nation's largest single-campus historically black institution
- Leads the nation in the graduation of black teachers

- Fourth
largest pharmacy school in the nation

- Second in black
business and computer information systems degrees

- Fifth in
black engineering degrees

- First in the Southeast in National
Institutes of Health grants

- Source: Florida A&M
University

WHERE ARE WE (HBCUs) GETTING THESE AUDITORS AND ACCOUNTANTS FROM? :mad:

Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles Business School? :eek: :mad: :eek:

My thoughts exactly. And where is all the money for said 'accountants' going?

:mad: :mad:
and yes, I graduated from an HBCU.

I assume the money goes to the company (if private) or back to the state if the state auditor handles the audit. :confused:

"Our People" (sometimes)! :rolleyes:

I heard about this the other day! What the hayle is really going on down there! :mad: I knew things were slow in finacial aid but dayum...not this bad! Get the bastids that are stealing our money out of there!
As a FAMU alum this is really heartbreaking. I hope they get it together soon and clear this mess up!

I am getting upset as both an HBCU alum and as an Accountant (Future CPA). :mad:

Y'all know THEY already think that "black folks can't manage money" :rolleyes:

This saddens me a great deal. Never went to an HBCU but this is still sad. ClassyLady, don't you go to FAMU? How are you doing down there?

I agree w/ fellow FAMU alum 2Discrete. This mess needs to be cleared up. I love my school and want to see it thriving and growing. I do what I can to help like being a part of the local and national alumi associations to give back. This is heartbreaking.

Sad but very true....
 

That was the exact reason why I left Famu... I spent more time standing in line at the FA office than I could in class. And if I didn't I would be evicted from my dorm room or wouldnt be able to get books or eat. This is a stress that should not be put on anyone...especially a freshman! There would be lines forming in from of the FA office at 6a in the morning in order for people to get in to see someone about thier money and when it was coming.
I remember very vividly getting an eviction notice put on my door and after that having to spend 6 hours trying to get a stay of eviction and the FA officer to tell me that this happens all the time. If you know this happens and that yall wont be getting the money until the end of the semester why even try to kick people out or take thier meal card from them?? It seemed like every week or so there was something wrong. When the rest of the state systems universities are getting their money within the first weeks of school... FAMU doesn't get theirs until near the end of the semester.
I loved FAMU...lawd knows I did... but if i had to go through that nightmare again...it would have kilt ( yes kilt) me dead!

I couldn't be worried about whether or not they got their notes right when I have exams and studying to do.