Union Seminary receive ditation warnings accreSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools cites 27 deficiencies

RICHMOND, Va. Union Theological Seminary in Virginia has been put on notice that it must clear up 27 deficiencies cited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and three deficiencies cited by the Association of Theological Schools in the U.S. and Canada (ATS) by December, 1998. Failure to make the required changes could affect the seminary’s continued accreditation.

By Parker T. Williamson

Teams from the two accrediting agencies visited Union in April, 1996 following completion of the seminary’s required self study. Although both agencies agreed to continue Union’s accreditation, ATS appended to its approval notes regarding deficiencies that the seminary must correct by spring 1998. According to Union’s president, Louis Weeks, in a December, 1997 letter to trustees and alumnae, ATS asked Union to "provide evidence of faculty evaluation, of a working strategic plan, and a corresponding system of evaluation." SACS attached 27 recommendations to its accreditation approval and asked for a progress report in December, 1997.

In accrediting vocabulary, a "recommendation" or a "note" is not merely a suggestion, but a requirement that must be satisfied in order for the educational institution to maintain its accreditation. The note is attached to the accrediting agency’s documentation, where it remains as a flag on the seminary’s record until corrective action removes it.

No disclosure

At a meeting of Union Seminary’s faculty in the Spring of 1996, Professor James Smilie, speaking for the administration, announced the results of the accreditation review. He did not specify the deficiencies, but simply stated his opinion that most of them had to do with minor procedural matters and could be cleared up in a few months.

Several months later, in a fall, 1996 faculty meeting, President Weeks was asked for a status report on the accreditation issue. He told the faculty that the administration was still working on the problem and that several of the deficiencies "had already been eliminated." Weeks was asked if copies of the recommendations might be made available to the faculty, but he declined to accede to the request, saying that the report was "confidential."

In President Weeks’ December 19 letter to trustees and alumnae, he reported on the fact that he had just returned from making the required progress report to SACS. He said that he had made "a comprehensive strategic plan" for Union one of his top priorities and that, in the light of the 27 SACS recommendations, he had established an "Office of Institutional Effectiveness."

SACS issues "warning’"

Apparently, SACS reviewers were not satisfied with the measures that the Weeks administration has taken to deal with its citations. According to Weeks, SACS issued a "warning" which "requires" that Union Seminary provide, by December 1998, "evidence of a systemic program of evaluation which has an effect on our programs, services and operations."

Weeks said that his administration is addressing the issues raised by SACS that he is confident it can complete the task by the December, 1998 deadline. The president expressed, with italicized emphasis, his opinion that "this does not represent a critique of the quality of our academic standards or of any of the degrees pursued at Union-PSCE."

Editor’s note: Radical feminist theologian Rosemary Radford Reuther is scheduled to give the prestigious Sprunt Lectures at Union, Jan. 26-28, 1998. See story, p. 22.