Union Theological Seminary accreditation approved The Presbyterian Layman Monday, September 14, 1998 After two years of consultation, the recently merged Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education has received a clean bill of health from two agencies that accredit institutions of higher learning. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) gave full approval to Union-PSCE and its degree programs. The agencies also recognized the federation of the two schools that occurred last summer. School put on notice The recent action resolves concerns the agencies first voiced two years ago. Following visits of teams from the accrediting agencies in April, 1996, the school was put on notice that it must clear up 27 deficiencies cited by SACS and three deficiencies cited by ATS by December, 1998. Failure to make the required changes could affect the seminary’s continued accreditation. ATS requested 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 an update 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 quickly. Union President Louis Weeks was asked for a status report on the accreditation issue during a fall, 1996 faculty meeting. He told the faculty that the administration was working on the problem and that several of the deficiencies “had already been eliminated.” When asked if copies of the recommendations might be made available to the faculty, Weeks declined, saying that the report was “confidential.” In Weeks’ December 19, 1996 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 initial measures that the Weeks administration had 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 was addressing the issues raised by SACS and that he was confident it could 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.” Union’s accreditation renewed Committees from SACS and ATS visited the school again in April of 1998. In separate June meetings, both SACS and ATS approved the federated Union-PSCE, recognized all degrees, and moved Union-PSCE to a course of regular accreditation visits. |
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