While looking for stories on the demise of FAMU football, I found this jewel

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Article published Oct 6, 2007
FAMU's progress pleases examiners
By Angeline J. Taylor

DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

An accrediting team assigned to Florida A&M University exited with a sense of confidence in the university's operations Friday, leaving their recommendations.

The five-member team from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools interviewed administrators, faculty, staff and students since Wednesday to determine if issues such as financial mismanagement and poor governance had been fixed. FAMU was placed on probation by SACS in June for failing to comply with such issues.

"In the three months since receipt of the notification, FAMU has made remarkable progress," Robert Gratz, chairman of the on-site accreditation committee, said in a news release.

Gratz added that a "broad range" of corrective action had been taken. The team said governance and the hiring of qualified administrators are "moot" issues now for FAMU. They also offered suggestions that focused on finance and audit receipts.

"I am pleased with the effort of the campus leadership, faculty, staff and students who participated in the interview process," President James Ammons said in a release. "The accolades we received are not normal coming from a visiting team."

Ammons was sick throughout the interviewing process. It is unclear how much he participated in the review. However, Rosalind Fuse-Hall, FAMU's chief of staff and board liaison, was involved in the full process. She shared Ammons' sentiments.

"I think they did a very thorough job of interviewing everyone on the campus," she said.

Fuse-Hall added the FAMU community should feel confident about the work the university did in preparation of the SACS team - particularly the information technology and fiscal affairs staffers.

Vivian Hobbs, SACS liaison and project director, said earlier this week that FAMU's leadership team was prepared for the visit.

"(Ammons) came in with a one-person wrecking machine in the form of a leadership team," Hobbs said.

Gratz agreed.

"The university has assembled a strong management team, and there is also a strong campus=wide commitment to addressing the concerns. Now, the new system only needs time to show its effectiveness," he said.

The committee will draft a report on its findings during the interviews. Ammons will receive a draft to check for accuracy. Then, the final report will be sent to a SACS compliance committee. That committee will recommend one of three options for FAMU in December.

They will either recommend that probation is dropped, continued or that FAMU lose membership to SACS - which means a loss of accreditation.

http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2...EWS01/710060342/1010

Da prez is da man. I know cause my couz is on that committee. We should all be prepared and get ready for that 10 year train. Indeed, there are some powerful forces out there to take us down.