UTRGV will receive further news on the status of its accreditation probation during the second week of December after a Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges committee makes a decision.
A SACSCOC committee visited the campus Oct. 9-11 to make a final determination on reaffirmation of accreditation.
The university addressed issues regarding cash management process, special tests and return of Title IV funds, enrollment reporting and student loan repayment.
UTRGV President Guy Bailey sent a university email last Tuesday stating the institution remains accredited and is awaiting a decision from the SACSCOC board.
“We feel very confident about a positive decision because they issued a very good report on the basis of their site visit,” Bailey said.
He said the state auditor came back this summer.
“We had addressed everything and resolved everything,” Bailey said. “And, the SACSCOC committee came in October.”
He said the committee told him everything had been resolved. The changes have been ready since May. A working committee from UTRGV oversaw the changes the university made.
“We had our own internal audits and our SACSCOC liaison, our financial aid people and our finance and administration people,” Bailey said. “It was a team effort of all those people working together.”
Janna Arney, UTRGV’s deputy president, oversaw the working group.
“And then there were smaller working groups who worked on particular issues,” Bailey said.
As cited in the SACSCOC Report of the Special Committee (2018), the university also received help from ProEducation Solutions, a company that provides financial aid consulting.
The report states the state auditor determined UTRGV “implemented appropriate corrective action for the five findings identified in the August 31, 2017, report.”
It also said the university implemented “all identified opportunities for improvement,” and UTRGV’s Special Committee’s ability to work efficiently “contributed to an all-around enjoyable visit.”
After UTRGV is no longer under probation, Bailey said the university will focus on expanding courses and services offered to students.
“We are building a number of new programs,” he said. “…We have a doctoral program in clinical psychology that begins next September. So, we are expanding our course offerings.
“We are trying to improve our transportation system and make sure that we have that worked out and to meet the needs of our students. … There are a number of things we are trying to do like that.”
The latest report is available at https://www.utrgv.edu/_files/documents/president/sacscoc/2018-10-24-sacscoc-final-report.pdf.
