A&T must compete with peers

Chancellor Harold Martin gathered N.C. A&T staff and faculty together Wednesday for the beginning of what he called “a very frank discussion.”

After the crowd gave the traditional call of “Aggie Pride,” Martin asked them to take a hard look at the school of which they are so proud — and how it stacks up against its peers.

“You should always know against whom we’re competing,” Martin told the capacity crowd at Harrison Auditorium. “That’s what peers should be used for: to determine how well or how poorly we’re doing.”

Martin then presented a slide show comparing A&T to 14 peer schools approved by the UNC Board of Governors in 2006.

The schools included UNC system cohorts like ECU, UNC-Charlotte and UNCG, but also schools like the University of Massachusetts and Florida A&M University. In many ways, the comparison was not flattering.

Martin pointed out that to be considered a doctoral, research intensive university an institution should be granting a minimum of 20 doctorates each year.

In 2006-2007, the last school year for which the school had compiled complete information, A&T gave just six. That’s far fewer than the 74 granted at UNCG in the same period and well below the peer group average of 39.

The number of master’s degrees given by A&T during 2006-07 was 324, well below the group average of 891. UNCG awarded 906 master’s degrees in the same period and UNC Charlotte, also a peer institution, granted 976.

Martin said he wanted to see the school increase the number of degree programs offered, which lagged well behind the peer average for number of bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate programs.

The figures brought audible gasps from some in the audience, most of whom said they didn’t even know A&T had such a list of peers.

A&T compared better in terms of student performance, with its freshmen entering with an average grade point average of 3.11 on a 4.0 scale. That was higher than the group average of 3.0, but beneath all the other UNC systems schools on the list.

And though its 19 percent of students graduating in four years matched the peer average, A&T was well below the UNC system average of 26. It also scored below all the other UNC schools on the list.

Other areas in which Martin said he’d like to see A&T improve: faculty pay and, surprisingly for a historically black college, diversity.

About 88 percent of A&T’s student body is black — a much higher percentage than many of its traditionally white-dominated peer schools’ percentage of white students. Just 7 percent of A&T’s students are white, 1 percent Asian, 2 percent Hispanic and 2 percent of other ethnicity.

“We have to make commitments in being more involved in diversity at our university,” Martin said to applause. “We must be more diverse.”

Though the crowd was shocked by many of the numbers, Martin’s suggestion that the school has untapped potential for improvement was met with furious applause. Martin said he’ll work with staff and faculty in the coming semester to improve key benchmarks and move toward putting A&T in the top 25 percent of its peer universities.

“I don’t think we have a choice,” Martin said. “I think we have to elect to compete. And I want to continue to have a conversation with you about how we do that.”

Feds forgives $11.7M in Tx So debt

Texas Southern University President John Rudley has crossed the final item off the to-do list he created when he took the top job at the historically black university in early 2008.

The U.S. Department of Education has decided to waive $11.7 million in debt owed the federal government by Texas Southern University. The debt had lingered for 13 years, through three presidential administrations, and started out as a $40 million penalty issued by the education department in 1996, following its finding that TSU couldn't prove all federal financial aid went to eligible students.

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, interceded on TSU's behalf.

“It was a steep mountain to climb,” the Jackson Lee said Monday.

The decision means TSU can instead use that money to improve its academic programs, said Provost Sunny Ohia.

“We still have a lot of work to do, with growing our enrollment and improving the quality of our academic programs,” he said.
Boosting online programs

One initiative will be to expand the number of programs offered online, Ohia said, noting that online programs are a good option for people who work full time but are expensive to create.

The original penalty was reduced to $15.7 million in 1998 during the Clinton administration. Talks continued throughout the administration of President George W. Bush, even as the school paid off almost $4 million of the debt.

Jackson Lee said a settlement appeared imminent several times but apparently lost momentum when responsibility was shifted around the department.

TSU argued that the Department of Education relied on a faulty statistical analysis to determine how many ineligible students received financial aid; Jackson Lee said school administrators provided records to support its claim that the problem was less widespread than it originally appeared.

She met with Education Secretary Arne Duncan soon after he was appointed by President Barack Obama, and he named a new team to reconsider the issue.

Jackson Lee said the reorganization begun under Rudley played a role in the decision, as did TSU's focus on underserved students, one of the Obama administration's priorities.

Department of Education officials did not return telephone calls Monday to explain their decision, or why the matter took so long to resolve.

FVSU expecting record enrollment

When it comes to Fort Valley State University’s enrollment, President Larry E. Rivers — a man with notoriously high expectations — does have a limit in mind.

“It would take a massive construction effort to accommodate more than 5,000,” Rivers said.

University officials don’t expect to reach that number this fall, but they plan on being closer than FVSU has ever been. Between 3,800 and 4,200 students are expected to attend FVSU this fall. About 1,500 will be freshmen. So far, 1,400 freshmen have paid housing deposits, Rivers said.

Last year, the university enrolled 3,106 students, a record for the institution. Until then, the school’s highest documented enrollment was 3,024 in 1996, according to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.

Terrance Smith, the university’s vice president of student affairs and enrollment management, said FVSU is ready to accommodate the massive influx with recent improvements to the campus.

The most recent phase of Wildcat Commons was completed in July. The $16 million, 126,430-square-foot student housing complex features four-bedroom suites and semi-suites with two bathrooms, along with units of two bedrooms and two bathrooms, and three bedrooms and one bathroom. The dorm is expected to house about 378 students. Smith said the university also purchased University Villas, an apartment complex with 136 bedrooms adjacent to the school.

Student housing isn’t the only concern school officials addressed to help accommodate the expanded enrollment. A 10,000-seat stadium is expected to be completed by the middle of this month. The university also plans to extend its class schedule, with more evening classes being offered. A contract was signed with a new food services provider to bring in additional dining options and the central dining area will be open from 7 a.m. until midnight.

“We’re poised for another successful year,” Smith said.

Reinvented UDC set to open this fall

The University of the District of Columbia reopens later this month amid the most far-reaching changes in its 32-year history.

When classes resume Aug. 26, DC's only public college will operate as two entities, both effectively new to the District: a two-year community college, open to all, and a four-year "flagship" university with selective admissions and tuition comparable to state universities in Virginia and Maryland. The schools will have separate faculties and student bodies.

It is a time of cautious optimism for many UDC students, who spent part of the winter protesting proposals to raise tuition and to end UDC's longtime policy of open enrollment for four-year students.

The new president, Allen L. Sessoms, saw a need to transform a campus of dilapidated buildings and sometimes directionless students. Enrollment had dwindled from 15,000 in the 1970s to 4,700. The graduation rate among full-time, first-time students was in the single digits.

"When I got here, it was pretty clear that the university was not meeting the public trust. It was not meeting expectations," Sessoms said, speaking last week in an office permeated with the smell of fresh paint.

Sessoms, a physicist trained at Yale, came to UDC in fall 2008, leaving the presidency of the historically black Delaware State University.

The school's $3,770 tuition and open admissions suited a community college, Sessoms reasoned, but not a university. Seventy percent of students arrived in need of remedial reading or math. The seasoned faculty taught rigorous courses. "When you graduated from UDC, you knew something," Sessoms said. But almost no one graduated.

Sessoms created a separate community college, preserving the traditions of low tuition, open admissions and remedial course work to serve the large numbers of students who graduate from Washington area high schools either unable to afford a state university or unprepared for college-level work.

The tuition is a flat $3,000 a year, with no nonresident surcharge, a policy that Sessoms said is "probably unique" among community colleges.

The university, in contrast, has been pruned of remedial course work. To gain admission, students have to show they are college-ready. An applicant with a 2.0 grade-point average, for example, would need a composite SAT score of at least 1400 of 2400 points to gain admission.

Sessoms initially proposed to nearly double the university's tuition in a single year. Students protested loudly, pitching tents outside the Northwest campus and turning their backs to the president en masse at one winter meeting. The school settled on a compromise that phases in the increase over two years. University students who live in the District pay $5,370 this year; students from the Maryland or Virginia suburbs pay $6,300; those from out of the region pay $12,300. Next year, the rates are scheduled to rise to $7,000, $8,000 and $14,000, respectively.

UDC will help current students who cannot pay the higher tuition, at a cost of $1 million this year in additional student aid, Sessoms said. He said the sharp increase "will put us where we need to be," with further increases only to cover inflation.

He said UDC tuition rates remain relatively low. According to figures provided by UDC, Bowie State University, for example, charges in-state students more than $6,000 and out-of-state students more than $17,000, and George Mason University charges more than $8,000 and $24,000, respectively.

The new plan "appears to have been somewhat accepted" by the student body, said Dale Lyons, the student member of the board of trustees. "The impact still hasn't hit everybody."

Sessoms said applications are up from about 2,000 at this time last year to 2,300 this year: 800 for the community college and 1,500 for the university. Schoolwide enrollment could reach 3,000 in the community college and 3,500 to 5,000 in the university.

Incoming students now apply separately to each school. Current students can choose to attend either. Those who wish to remain in the university but require remediation will have two semesters to catch up. Anyone still needing remedial help will be moved to the community college.

The higher tuition will fund a $40 million student center, the first at UDC, and building renovations to include interactive classroom technology and updated labs.

"For the first time in 30 years, there's going to be a significant investment in our physical plant," Sessoms said.

The community college will be organized around a central "hub," probably in Ward 7, in eastern Washington, with as many as six satellite locations in the city. Five satellite facilities will be open this school year. The headquarters is scheduled to move from the Van Ness campus in Northwest to the new hub next year.

Students decried the run-down state of the UDC campus even as they marched through it last winter to protest the tuition increase. Now, as they begin to see their tuition dollars at work, antipathy has softened. "I don't think there's any student who ever agrees with any tuition increase," said Teneriffe Mapp, 27, a junior. "For me personally, if there's progress that goes along with that tuition increase, then it's easier to masticate on, easier to digest."

Johnson, 25, said the work has lifted her spirits: "Those gray walls, they really took a toll on your psyche. And one day I walk in, and they're canary."

Students note other improvements: a new Web site offers online admissions and insurance forms, providing easy access to services that used to engender long lines.

Students seem to be torn over the higher standards imposed on the university. Johnson said she always felt "one of the best things about the university was the open enrollment." But she said that policy is "one of the things that keeps us from the quote-unquote prestige."

Albany State alumni giving is up by 32%

Alumni giving at Albany State University is up by 32% over last year as the school took in $509,494.37 in donations, eclipsing its $500,000 goal.

“We just reached out a lot more often, particularly during the end of the year, than we have before,” said Mildred Johnson, director of development. “So often people get something in the mail and they intend to give, but time passes and they don’t. Following up with them to remind them is the best way to get people to react.”

Along with the "ask", ASU sent potential donors a "Donor Bill of Rights" to emphasize how serious the Institutional Advancement staff takes its fiduciary obligations.

“We wanted them to know that we would be wise stewards with their money,” Annual Giving Officer Sherrell Byrd said. “We would be transparent with their records or receipts and be more than willing to answer any questions they may have.” Johnson and Byrd also attributed the increase in alumni donors to a stronger push in their marketing efforts. Emails, mailings, name recognitions and thank-you letters were all generated in record numbers from the office.

The Institutional Advancement staff works alongside Alumni Affairs to ensure the participation of the local, state and national alumni chapters in alumni giving. A phone-a-thon that featured the alumni chapters doing the calling was conducted earlier this year. “We really utilized the many different forms of communication,” Byrd said.

“Nothing expensive, but rather staying in their faces.” According to Johnson and Byrd, there is more work to be done and zero room for complacency. Johnson mentioned that securing a trustworthy relationship with donors is vital for future progression. “I am excited that we exceeded our goal but I am not satisfied,” Byrd commented. “My push now is not only to continue the same vein of educating donors, but cultivating more donors as well. I will not stop until we get 10,000 donors.”

Paul Quinn isn't dead president says

Paul Quinn College may have lost accreditation – a potentially fatal blow to the 137-year-old institution – but its president is stubbornly optimistic about the prospects for survival.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools voted to strip Paul Quinn College of its accreditation, citing financial and academic troubles. That means its students cannot receive federal or state financial aid, and the college cannot award degrees.

Sorrell said the college, which ended last semester with 375 students, will appeal the association's ruling. Until that appeal is decided, the school can still award degrees and class credits.

"Paul Quinn College is open and in the business of educating our students," he said.

The accrediting agency determined that Paul Quinn lacks sufficient financial resources or stability. It also cited problems with "institutional effectiveness," which focuses on whether students learn what they are supposed to.

While losing accreditation is a major blow, it's not necessarily a death sentence. Texas College, another historically black institution in Tyler, lost its seal of approval in the mid-1990s but regained it a few years later.

The historically black college, which is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, has struggled for years with finances, academics and leadership. Under Sorrell, the school has seen spikes in applications and donations. Enrollment has dropped, although Sorrell said that's largely because of tougher academic standards.

Paul Quinn College moved from Waco to the former campus of Bishop College in 1990. Bishop had closed in 1988 after filing for bankruptcy and losing its accreditation.

Dallas businessman Comer Cottrell bought the 130-acre Bishop property, thinking it might be a good site for educating troubled youths. The idea didn't pan out, and Paul Quinn approached him about relocating to Dallas, he said.

Cottrell, who sits on the school's board of trustees, said he was saddened by the loss of accreditation. "We desperately need a college of that type here," he said. "That's how you develop leaders for your community."

Cottrell said the school's governance has hampered operations for years. "We've always had preachers in leadership," he said of the board. "They don't know what they're doing."

Board chairman Gregory Ingram, presiding prelate of the area African Methodist Episcopal Church, rejected such talk. "That's absolutely wrong and an unfair statement," he said. The current board is a "mosaic of interest groups" helping the school rebound, he said. "What prevailed in the past is not the Paul Quinn today."

Cottrell also blamed Dallas' black leaders and residents for the school's troubles. "It's our responsibility," he said. "There's enough money in the Dallas African-American community to take care of that campus."

Boarded store fronts, vacant land and aging homes dominate the scene along and around Simpson Stuart Road, where Paul Quinn is located. Development of that part of southeastern Oak Cliff has long been an unrealized vision.

Hampton University president seeks $35M for geothermal heating

Hampton University President William Harvey wants $35 million, and he's not shy about asking for it.

He personally handed a proposal to install a geothermal heating system to U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Poneman, who was on campus Friday for Sen. Mark R. Warner's Virginia Summit on Energy Opportunities.

HU is seeking stimulus money to replace its coal-powered steam plant that was built in 1868.

Before Warner introduced Poneman to the nearly 500 people at the summit, he said there is no one who is "more passionate, more relentless, more committed to getting things done than Bill Harvey."

Harvey does it through force of personality, Warner said, adding, "How many of you have been in a meeting with Bill Harvey where Bill Harvey is after something?"

Warner held up a letter addressed to U.S. Energy Secretary Steve Chu in which he supports HU's proposal for the $35 million for a geothermal heating system.

After speaking at the summit, Poneman said geothermal energy is a new process that he doesn't know much about but is certainly an area of promise.

Virginia is allotted $130 million this year for energy programs and grants through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

HU would be the first university to replace an existing heating system with a geothermal one.

Harvey said having Poneman on campus to personally see the smokestack that emits 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year boded well for his proposal.
"To have the deputy secretary of energy come here, and be able to 'kick the tire,' so to speak, I think that will have tremendous impact to come," Harvey said.

HU will replace its steam plant no matter what, he said, even if it has to do so building by building.

Grambling gets unqualified audit, continues to make progress

Grambling State University President Horace Judson says the school is taking the necessary steps to rectify accounting problems brought to light by a recently released report by the Louisiana legislative auditor.

“I’m happy with what we’ve done,” Judson said.

“But we’ve got to do more.”

The most recent report found that GSU understated its operating loss by $1.3 million for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2008, inaccurately reported and misclassified many account balances, submitted an inaccurate Annual Fiscal Report for the second straight year, could not locate nearly $1 million worth of property, conducted business with vendors and other institutions without having current valid contracts, did not adequately report athletic revenues and did not effectively pursue the collection of funds owed the university.

Although the report highlighted myriad accounting problems, the audit was still unqualified, meaning auditor’s were able to accurately assess the school’s financial health.

Unlike other area schools who are audited every other year, GSU requested to be audited every year and has done so since Judson took over in 2004.

“We’re trying to achieve excellence, every year we put ourselves to the test,” Judson said.

Judson said that doing an audit every year makes keeping up with new accounting standards that are added each year difficult for the school’s staff.

Frequent turnover in the business department likely also led to some of the errors cited in the report, Judson said.

Randy Moffett, president of the University of Louisiana system, said GSU is moving in the right direction to correct the findings of the audit.

“We are pleased with Grambling’s unqualified audit, which shows improvement over last year,” he said.

“The university responded appropriately to all findings, and system staff continues to work closely with university staff to ensure continued improvement.”

Tx. Southern gets off probation

Texas Southern University cleared a major hurdle in recruiting and fundraising last week when its accrediting body agreed to take the school off probation.

“It’s a big deal,” said President John Rudley, who took office in January 2008, one month after the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed TSU on probation for a series of financial and management missteps.

The impact is mainly symbolic: Parents who were reluctant to send their children to TSU because its accreditation was in doubt now can feel secure, Rudley said.

“The value of our degrees has been affirmed,” he said.

Belle Wheelan, president of the association’s commission on colleges, said her board voted to lift the probation Thursday morning, two days after Rudley and a team of TSU administrators presented evidence of their progress.

Rudley announced the news to his school’s board of regents soon after.

Gregory Maddox, interim dean of the TSU graduate school and a member of the administrative team that worked to end the probation, said he never thought the school actually would lose accreditation.

“But it certainly has been bad for morale,” he said. “Now we can go about the business of being a university. We’re not under the burden of having to constantly prove what we’re doing.”

The biggest step came earlier this year, when auditors were able to complete their tally of the school’s financial position. That took almost two years — the first firm hired for the job gave up because the financial records from previous years were in such a mess.

The financial problems and shoddy recordkeeping were highlighted when Rudley’s predecessor, Priscilla Slade, was accused of spending $500,000 in school money on herself. She is on probation.

Rudley said the school would have an annual outside audit for the next five years to ensure its finances remain clear.
“We don’t ever want to get in that position again,” he said.

Now, he said, TSU can go about the business of being “a normal university.”

That doesn’t mean no problems. The TSU library is inadequate for a school of its size and ambition, but the Legislature didn’t approve a request for $46 million in tuition revenue bonds to build and furnish a new one. Only the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston was authorized to issue tuition revenue bonds, used for university construction, during the session that ended this month.

That will be TSU’s top priority when the next session begins in 2011, Rudley said.

Paul Quinn loses its accreditation

Paul Quinn College has lost its accreditation because of financial and academic problems, officials announced yesterday – a devastating blow that jeopardizes the future of the tiny liberal arts college in southern Dallas.

Colleges need accreditation to award degrees and offer students federal financial aid. That seal of approval is also usually needed for student credits to transfer to other colleges.

It ultimately could force Paul Quinn's 440 students to find another school.

"They had made progress ... but they ran out of time before they could come into compliance on everything," said Belle Wheelan, president of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Paul Quinn, one of eight historically black colleges in Texas, was put on probation two years ago. It still fell short in three areas: financial resources, financial stability and institutional effectiveness – essentially a college's ability to teach students what they need to know.

"They didn't have enough money. They were in debt," Wheelan said.

President Michael Sorrell said he was disappointed by the decision.

"We're absolutely going to file an appeal," he said. "One of the issues folks need to understand is that we made a phenomenal amount of progress."

For instance, he said the college expects to have a surplus of more than $200,000 at the end of this fiscal year.

Paul Quinn had failed a federal test of financial responsibility, based on last fiscal year. Colleges in that situation face extra federal scrutiny and must post letters of credit so they can continue to receive and award federal student aid.

It's unusual for colleges to lose accreditation. Wheelan said the last time that happened with her agency was in 2007, with St. Andrews Presbyterian College in North Carolina, also because of financial problems. Later, however, a federal judge ordered the accrediting agency to reinstate the school's accreditation.

Sorrell is Paul Quinn's fifth college president since 2001. A businessman, lawyer and political consultant, Sorrell was widely considered the best shot at turning around the long-struggling school.

In two years, he has instituted a number of changes, including a business-casual dress code, tougher academic standards and more aggressive recruiting.

"He made great progress. He just didn't make enough progress," Wheelan said.

With classes in summer recess, the 130-acre campus was mostly vacant Thursday. A guard at the front gate denied access to anyone without an appointment.

William Baker, a sophomore education major, said he struggled with college in Muskegon, Mich., and followed two family members to Paul Quinn. He said the Dallas school has served him well.

"It's a school where you are identified by name, not just number. Anytime I needed anything they were there. It's very family-oriented. The president was always walking around, shaking hands, checking on students," he said. "He always had an open-door policy."

Sorrell said he did not want to speculate on what loss of accreditation means for faculty and students.

"I want to stop short of rendering opinions on things like that until we've exhausted the appeal process," he said.

Dallas ISD trustee Ron Price is a Paul Quinn graduate. He said he was disappointed that the campus lost accreditation, and he noted that it often leads to a college's closing.

"My heart goes out to those 400-plus students who put their time, energy and resources into the college," he said.

Baker, 21, last year's sophomore class president, said he will transfer if future classes won't count toward a degree.

"But I'm going to continue to believe I'll come back here in September," he said. "Even though we are struggling, I believe it will turn around."

The college's loss of accreditation appears to have nothing to do with quality of the school's academic programs.

VUU gets major scholarship gift

The Richmond Community Hospital Foundation is giving Virginia Union University $1.3 million for a new scholarship and internship program.

Dr. Frank Royal, the hospital foundation board's chairman, described the donation as a "transfer of love, commitment and a little money" during a ceremonial check presentation at the school yesterday.

Virginia Union acting President Claude G. Perkins said the gift is the largest ever to the school from an African-American organization.

"Many students like Dr. Royal and others have gone and made significant contributions in our city and throughout this land," Perkins said. "We hope to use these funds to continue that legacy. As you know we are facing difficult economic times. Many of our students, their parents have lost their jobs. Many of our students are overextended with student loans."

Virginia Union, in the North Side of Richmond, is a private, historically black university founded in 1865.

The school, in a new partnership with Bon Secours Richmond Health System, will create an internship program for students, possibly in health-care management and the sciences, said Dougal Hewitt, senior vice president for mission services at Bon Secours and a member of the Richmond Community Hospital Foundation board. To qualify, students must be residents of the Greater Richmond area for at least a year.

Hewitt said the internships could include training opportunities at Bon Secours Richmond hospitals -- St. Mary's, St. Francis, Memorial Regional and Richmond Community. Richmond Community became part of the Bon Secours system in the mid-1990s. The hospital foundation was created with proceeds from that sale.

Richmond Community Hospital is in the East End but was previously in a building on the Virginia Union campus. That building now sits empty and boarded up.

Royal, a physician who has practiced more than four decades, described walking into the building for the first time years ago.

"It was the first time in my life I had ever been in the front door of a hospital," Royal said. Racist attitudes relegated African-Americans to enter through back doors. Black doctors could practice only at certain hospitals.

"The first hospital I practiced in was Richmond Community. . . . The last hospital I practiced in was Richmond Community," Royal said.

AAMU selects Hugine as new leader

Andrew Hugine, Jr., former president of South Carolina State University, will become the 11th president of Alabama A&M University.

The seasoned administrator successfully fielded board questions pertaining to his leadership philosophy, politics in higher education, athletics and several other concerns prior to the Board of Trustee’s shift to executive session following an already six-hour meeting.

In order to deal with AAMU challenges and traditions, Hugine said he would practice shared governance by pulling together the school’s stakeholders “to conduct a critical review of where the University is strategically.” He also expressed confidence that AAMU will soundly deal with the issues that led to its placement on probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

“We must have priorities,” he said. “We cannot be everything to everybody.”

While at SCSU, Hugine made huge gains in enrollment, fundraising, and construction. Many SCSU supporters believe he was fired in retaliation for fighting back against micromanaging Board of Trustees members.

The AAMU community rallied behind Hugine despite rampant rumors that an influential trustee wanted Lawrence Davenport. During an interview, Davenport told AAMU’s search committee that he was willing to sign a lifetime contract with AAMU. But shortly after that statement, he took a job as head (principal) of a Rhode Island charter school.

Faculty members circulated a petition against Davenport’s candidacy and openly expressed their anger to the media.

AAMU to interview presidential finalist Thursday

With four new members appointed last week by Gov. Bob Riley, the Alabama A&M University Board of Trustees has scheduled a meeting Thursday to attempt to re-interview three finalists for the university's presidency. A selection may come as soon as Friday.

The 11-member board hasn't been able to get a quorum together since January because of a standoff over the presidential picks, Dr. Lawrence Davenport of Florida; Dr. Rodney Smith of Virginia and Dr. Andrew Hugine Jr. of South Carolina.

Several trustees have boycotted subsequent meetings because some believe the process was designed to favor Davenport, who narrowly lost to Dr. Robert Jennings in 2005. Jennings was ousted in March 2008.

Riley appointed the four new trustees last week after two years of fighting to get his previous four picks.

While many have praised the new trustee picks, who can serve until the Senate Confirmations Committee takes up the appointments next year, the president of the faculty Senate has said that one new trustee---Odysseus M. Lanier--- brings a bias toward Davenport to the presidential search process.

Lanier was co-chair of the search committee that recommended the three finalists, and Cady says Lanier told faculty leaders at a meeting with the governor's legal adviser this year that Davenport was most qualified, should have been hired in 2005 instead of Dr. Robert Jennings, and should be president now.

Lanier declined to comment last week about whether he supports Davenport for the job, saying he would reserve comment until he begins serving on the board.

Questions have arisen about Davenport, who recently left his job as head of a prestigious charter school in Providence, R.I., a job he accepted two days before interviewing for the Alabama A&M job.

The Providence newspaper described Davenport's tenure as "contentious." It wouldn't be the first time Davenport has left a school in controversy.

Before he came to Providence, Davenport was a vice president and fundraiser for Florida Atlantic University.

He left with a severance package of nearly $600,000 that prompted a state audit and opposition from the Florida Legislature.

The Providence school's leaders said they examined Davenport's tenure in Florida and found no wrongdoing.

According to his resume, Davenport has had seven jobs since 2000, counting the Providence position.

Thursday's meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the Clyde Foster Multipurpose Room in the School of Business on the A&M campus.

AAMU faculty opposes prez hopeful

Alabama A&M University’s faculty senate has a clear message to the institution’s presidential search committee: candidate Lawrence Davenport does not have what it takes to lead.

Davenport told AAMU’s search committee that he was willing to sign a lifetime contract with AAMU. But shortly after that statement, he took a job in Rhode Island as head of a charter school.

That move sparked anger from many AAMU supporters. One alumnus said: “Where I come from, we call this two-timing. It's a classic player move: Tell one institution what it wants to hear while you're getting what you want from another.”

Last week, news reports confirmed that Davenport resigned his Rhode Island job to “give his full attention to securing the presidency of Alabama A&M University.” However, there are rampant accounts that he was "embattled" after serving only four months and his employers pushed him out.

AAMU faculty senators are now circulating a petition asking that Davenport’s name be stricken from consideration.

“We did not care for Davenport because of the way he handled himself here with the interview and then taking the job in Rhode Island, and so it was sort of an ethical issue for us then,” said Faculty Senate President Barbara Cady.

A&T to pay two chancellors salaries for six months

The University of North Carolina Board of Governors voted recently to allow A&T Chancellor Stanley F. Battle to go on “research leave” from July 1 to Dec. 31. Battle has resigned from his position, effective June 30, citing “personal and family reasons. Battle who came to A&T from Coppin State had only served as A&T chancellor for less than two years.

While on leave, he would continue to receive his chancellor’s salary of $273,156 a year, a decision that has caused considerable controversy.

Battle would then return to A&T in January as a full-time tenured faculty member in the Department of Sociology and Social Work, where he would teach, receiving an appropriate salary for that position.

The announcement comes as A&T is cutting 66 positions. With the recent appoint of Harold Martin as the new A&T chancellor, the university would be forced to pay two chancellors' salaries for six months.

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Shaw selects Yancy as interim president

Shaw University named former Johnson C. Smith University President Dorothy Cowser Yancy as interim president this morning, making her the first female to head the historically black school in its 144 year history.

Yancy, who was also Johnson C. Smith's first female president, headed the Charlotte-based historically black school from 1994 until June 2008, according to the school's Web site. According to a Shaw University news release, she raised $145 million in fundraising campaigns for Johnson C. Smith and increased its endowment from $14 million to $53 million.

Yancy replaces Clarence Newsome, who took a one-year leave of absence in mid-May amid rising about Shaw's ballooning debt, decaying dormitories, the payment of everyday expenses on credit and a graduation rate that hovers around 36 percent.

Conditions at the private school so disturbed alumni that in March, the Greensboro chapter stopped donating or raising money for their alma mater. This stance stayed in place until mid May, when Shaw announced Newsome would leave his post with a paid, one-year sabbatical. At that time, the agency that accredited Shaw in 2002 said it will demand a plan for paying down the debt once a new president replaces Newsome.

"He lost his credibility with the students, the faculty and staff and the alumni," said Robert Caple, chairman of the Greensboro alumni group. "We knew something had to happen."

Shaw's board of trustees chairman Willie Gary praised Yancy's leadership abilities and her track record at Johnson C. Smith.

"As they used to say when I was growing up, she brought them from the projects to the pros," Gary said.

Siemens makes large in-kind gift to Howard

Howard University will get a series of software grants valued at $150 million from Siemens PLM Software, a division of the Siemens Industry Automation Division.

It is the largest chunk of grants the D.C. university has received and they will help strengthen the school's engineering curriculum.

The Plano, Texas-based provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services made the grant announcement in conjunction with the Business Software Alliance CEO Forum in D.C.

The grants, aimed to help educate future PLM engineers and technologists, are for engineering software and student and instructor training and specialized certification programs.

Siemens PLM Software provides PLM technology to more than a million students each year at nearly 10,200 global institutions.

AAMU falls behind on retirement payments

Alabama A&M University has fallen two months - nearly $2 million - behind in payments to the state retirement system on behalf of its 1,100 employees, retirement officials say.

Slight payment lags of a week or two are common, but no other public institution has missed two straight months, according to Donald Yancey, director of benefits for the Retirement Systems of Alabama.

A&M officials blamed the state, a statement from Vice President for Business and Finance Charlie Rucker on Thursday said that "the state is about two months behind in payments (warrants) to Alabama A&M University."

If state education payments are the problem , Gov. Bob Riley asked, "Why is every other university and school system in Alabama up to date?"

The payment gap won't prevent someone from retiring from A&M with full benefits, Yancey said, because RSA routinely starts retirement payments while waiting for the last payroll deductions to catch up.

But until the shortfall is made up, Yancey said the system will not cash out any departing employee's retirement account. That means an employee leaving for another job this summer will find his or her account frozen until A&M catches up.

The shortfall includes both the 5 percent retirement contribution withheld from A&M salaries each month, plus the 11 percent matching contribution the school makes, Rucker said.

Rucker said both contributions are held in university bank accounts, "and both amounts are submitted to RSA when sufficient funds are accumulated."

A&M has an average monthly payroll of about $6 million, Rucker said. Sixteen percent of $6 million means an approximate $960,000 monthly contribution. That puts A&M nearly $2 million behind.

A&M has been dealing with the same budget woes affecting public schools, colleges and universities across the state. The university's state appropriation this year was about $45 million, down from a first proposal of almost $50 million. For next year, Riley estimates that mandated budget cuts will limit A&M to about $40 million from the state. It gets millions more from other sources, including the federal government.

Interim A&M President Dr. Beverly Edmond and A&M officials have implemented steps to deal with the budget, including monthly unpaid furloughs of 12 hours for administrators and eight hours for staff earning $30,000 a year, and a 5 percent cut in pay for summer faculty, Rucker said.

A&M is currently operating without a permanent president or an approved budget.

It has no budget because the board of trustees has not met to pass one, and the board hasn't met because of two ongoing disputes, one between Riley and legislators over new appointees to the board, and one between remaining members over A&M's next president.

Riley's spokesman said Thursday that the governor hasn't decided whether to continue to push his four nominees.

The four have failed to win Senate confirmation for two years.

"The governor is reviewing his options," said Todd Stacy, Riley's press secretary.

Martin named new chancellor at A&T

N.C. A&T didn't have to search very far to find its new chancellor, as Harold Martin, vice president for academic affairs at the UNC System office was selected as the new head Aggie last Friday morning. Martin is an A&T alum, and former chancellor of Winston-Salem State University from 2000-2006.

“It is a great pleasure to come home,” Martin told a crowd assembled at the UNC Board of Governors meeting held on A&T’s campus.

The Board of Governors unanimously approved Martin, who President Erskine Bowles called “a mentor, a colleague and a friend.”

“This is a huge personal loss for me,” said Bowles, who has leaned on Martin as his “But I understand why he missed this campus and felt called home, home to serve his alma mater.”

Bowles said he could not imagine a better man to lead A&T.

“Harold Martin is a proud Aggie,” Bowles said. “He personifies Aggie pride. He is not only a graduate of A&T - he has also been a faculty member, dean and provost at A&T he knows this institution inside and out. He is of North Carolina A&T.”

Many Aggies said they trusted Martin with the school’s future, citing his work at WSSU. While chancellor there Martin saw the school’s average incoming SAT score go up more than 70 points and doubled enrollment.

Martin said he plans to do the same at A&T, picking up on the progress of outgoing chancellor Stanley Battle, who resigned in February citing family and personal reasons.

“I want to say publicly that I thank Chancellor Battle and his staff for the progress that was made under his leadership,” Martin said.

Hampton J-School Dean stepping down

Tony Brown, the76-year-old former host of the PBS show, "Tony Brown's Journal" announced his departure as dean of the Hampton University's School of Journalism. Brown had served as dean for five years.

After all the diplomas were handed out, Brown read an excerpt from his book "What Mamma Taught Me: The Seven Core Values of Life," shared advice with the graduates, then told the crowd of about 500 he was resigning.

"He said he just wants people to understand that he's not upset about leaving," said broadcast journalism graduate Courtney Snead. "That it's just a next step in his life, just like the one we're taking."

Brown became the first dean of the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications in 2004, and the department's third leader in three years.

Christopher Campbell resigned as director in July 2004 over differences with President William Harvey about allowing students to have free speech and press freedom in their reporting.

Charlotte Grimes, the previous chair of the journalism program, cited similar conflicts about freedom of speech when she left in 2002.

The following year, HU administrators confiscated an issue of the independently-run student newspaper, the Hampton Script, after disagreeing with the placement of a letter by the acting HU president JoAnn Haysbert.

"When he arrived, the School of Journalism and Communications was in a state of disarray," Harvey said in a statement Tuesday.

"Not only has he smoothed out the rough patches, but he has taken it to new heights. His intellect, experience, judgment, and presence will be sorely missed," he said.

Brown's exit came as no surprise to students. He had been dropping hints since January that it was his last academic year, said rising journalism sophomore Juan Diasgranados.

The broadcast major said Brown told students in his 6 a.m. grammar club it would be their last time meeting, and in late April, told his journalism practicum class "On May 10 as the seniors graduate, I'll be graduating as well."

Brown said, via HU Spokeswoman Alison Phillips, that he plans to continue speaking nationally, to complete his fourth book and to remain active promoting the need for English fluency.

Phillips said Brown will continue to serve as dean until June 30, and a replacement has not yet been selected.

Knoxville College maybe ready to seek accreditation

After losing its accreditation in 1996 over mounting financial and administrative problems, Knoxville College may be poised for a comeback.

Plans are on track for enrollment to double this fall to nearly 200 students. A complete overhaul of the school’s curriculum is under way to focus on careers in energy and the environment, and the school plans to seek reaccredidation by year’s end.

The architect of Knoxville College’s attempt to rebound is not a college administrator with a proven track record. He’s not even a full-time employee or an alumnus of the school. Dr. Johnnie Cannon is a 33-year veteran employee of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory where he is chief scientist in the agency’s National Security Directorate. He ‘moonlights’ as chief operating officer at Knoxville College and does so on a volunteer basis.

“Things are pretty tough,” says Cannon, a 1970 graduate of Tuskegee University who earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Cal Tech. “But we’re making payroll and paying the bills we need to be paying.

“We have a plan (for accreditation) we’re going to present in about three months,” Cannon says.

He adds, however, that the college is not yet ready for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which he calls the “Rolls Royce” of accrediting agencies.

“We just need a Honda right now,” he says, explaining that the college is exploring several other accrediting bodies.

The ambitious agenda on tap at Knoxville College is a giant leap forward for a school that just a few years ago was only seeing its problems mount with no real plan for solving them. Its enrollment was nose-diving. Today it enrolls less than 100 students, compared to nearly 1,000 students in the 1970s.

The college had also lost credibility and support among most alumni and local citizens of influence in the Knoxville community.

It was a call by interim president Robert Harvey to a friend at nearby Oak Ridge seeking help that eventually led him to Cannon and a turning point in the school’s fortunes. After some candid talks about the school’s situation, Cannon agreed in August 2005 to Harvey’s request to come on board for three months.

Cannon took the bull by the horns and has since been wrestling with Knoxville College’s problems quite methodically and successfully. As a result, he wound up staying much longer to help the college build its way back up from the bottom.

Internally, Cannon tackled the faculty lawsuit, working out an agreement for its resolution. He made some tough decisions about students who were not paying their bills, not participating in the school work-study program, and those who were misbehaving. He sent them home. He started asking tough accountability questions of the staff and students and insisted on a new sense of discipline in how the school functions.

In 2006, a group of alumni stepped forward to help the school too, asserting they would have to raise money to keeps its doors open or it would close. The 2006-2007 “Million Dollar Fundraising Campaign” raised nearly $900,000, including a $100,000 match from the Tom Joyner Morning Foundation.

The alumni association has since been giving money to the school each month and has just launched another fundraising campaign with the Jamaica Coffee Co. to sell coffee, with the school getting 40 percent of the proceeds.

Tom Joyner, the radio personality, has also stepped up to help Knoxville College. In addition to the $100,000 match for the alumni campaign, his foundation gave the school $250,000 in June 2008 to renovate a dormitory building and initiate a recruitment program (the school now has four recruiters).

In December, when Knoxville College was college of the month on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, 10 of its students got their tuition paid for the current semester by the Joyner Foundation. It has also pledged $250,000 more in assistance, payable this summer.

To meet it obligations of about $48,000 a week, the school also continues to receive about $250,000 a year in funding from the United Presbyterian Church, and participates in two state-funded programs for HBCUs in Tennessee, one administered by Meharry Medical College and the other by Tennessee State University.

Cannon, meanwhile, is working hard on recasting the school’s academic focus to one that is closely tied to 21st century needs — energy and the environment — and hopes the school can align its focus to compliment the vast opportunities at Oak Ridge.

“If he’d (Cannon) not been there, I suspect the school would not be functioning,” says Russell Sellars, a 1973 Knoxville College grad who helped spearhead the 2006-2007 fundraising effort. “ He (Cannon) was able to make the hard decisions. It’s a challenge (the college’s dilemma) that’s somewhat impossible but the school is still functioning.”

“If we can be pulled out of the water, we wouldn’t have a chance without him,” adds Harvey, who retired from Knoxville College in 1988 and is now serving his fourth stint (at no charge) as interim president of the school. “He’s (Cannon) not a lightweight. He couldn’t be any better.”

Cannon has also worked hard at repairing relations with the Knoxville community, from neighboring University of Tennessee and its Howard Baker Center for Public Policy to local business leaders whom he says are taking a renewed interest in the school.

As for the accolades, Cannon spreads them around. He credits the college’s growing base of volunteers, including its 17 alumni chapters, the Anglican church pastor who hopes to recruit 100 churches to sponsor 100 students set enrollment this fall, and the creditors and litigants who’ve agreed to give Cannon some room to try to help save the school — which still has $7 million in back debt to pay and an endowment of just over $1 million.

He’s also got the backing of the school’s trustees when hard decisions have had to be made.

“The community is now getting behind the college,” says Cannon. “There are more and more people who want to help. … I see myself as a change agent and I believe we can improve.”
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Stimulus Could Save Struggling HBCUs

President Obama’s economic stimulus package could provide a big help to thecountry’s Black colleges, which have been hit hard by the economic slump. Historically Black colleges and universities usually lack big endowments and aren’t receiving as much state funding for education, according to Reuters. Combine that with the majority of the student body coming from low- or
middle-income families means more and more of these schools are relying on tuition to keep their doors open.

Recently Clark Atlanta University laid off 70 of its 229 full-time faculty.

The $787 billion stimulus bill includes money that will help create infrastructure projects on HBCU campuses, improvements in technology, and increased federal grants for students from low-income families.

VA to issue $150 million in bonds for Hampton U.

Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine has approved a $150 million bond authorization for the Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute.

Kaine's actions clears the way for the way for the construction of the $225 million center which will support the proton beam treatment, research and educational facility.

Hampton U. must pay the bonds back and pay the state for the transaction, so the money is not a donation, said center spokeswoman Sarita Scott.

The bonds will be issued through the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority. The group has already issued $70 million in bonds for the proton institute in December, bringing the total Hampton has bonded to $220 million.

Kaine said in a statement that the center "will be a tremendous asset for the Commonwealth, and I am very pleased we found a way to support it's important work."

HU officials said the center will begin seeing patients in August 2010 and expect to treat more than 2,000 per year, with 65 percent dedicated prostate cancer patients.

Tn State set to recast itself as a research U.

Over the next six years, Tennessee State University plans to spend more than $36 million on a strategy it hopes will transform the university into a top research school.

TSU's plan is ambitious: to transform itself into a premier research institution, one that attracts thousands of new students and millions of dollars in endowments, donations and grants. At a time when universities across the state are cutting budgets, http://www.tnstate.edu/">Tennessee State University is dreaming big — and ready to throw millions into its plans.

Over the next six years, TSU plans to spend more than $36 million on a strategy it hopes will transform the university.
TSU's plan is ambitious: to transform itself into a premier research institution, one that attracts thousands of new students and millions of dollars in endowments, donations and grants.

The question now is whether a university that's been plagued with lackluster student service, declining enrollment and bad publicity can turn things around in the middle of the worst budget crisis to hit higher education in decades.


TSU's new 2010-14 strategic plan developed by Peter Nwosu, a strategic planning expert and a visiting fellow from the American Council on Education, establishes lofty goals.

"If we choose to do nothing, then we will be nowhere" five years from now, he said.

The plan calls for TSU to increase enrollment from 8,200 to more than 12,000 by 2015, increase fundraising revenue by 10 percent every year, and to earn a designation as a level two research institution from the Carnegie Foundation.

New academic master plan
But before TSU can begin building itself into a research hub, it needs the results of yet another planning committee that is drawing up a new academic master plan for the university — one that will begin eliminating under-performing majors and elevating a handful of programs that will be considered TSU's "flagship" programs.

What those flagship research programs will be, Nwosu couldn't say for sure. But TSU is the only land grant college in Middle Tennessee, so its college of agriculture is a likely candidate, as is its nursing program.

Becoming a major research institution "doesn't happen by prayer — it happens by work," Nwosu said.


$36M plan follows cuts

Recent state budget cuts forced TSU to trim $9 million from its budget. Paying for the $36 million plan will mean shifting millions from other programs, including the federal Title III money it receives as a designated historically black university. Nwosu said TSU will divert money away from under-performing programs and also will hope increased fundraising will provide some of the planning money.

"These are bad times, but bad times don't mean we'll just fold up the tent," Nwosu said. While painful, he said, this year's budget cuts gave the university a chance to take a hard look at its entrenched practices and programs: "We're rethinking, reorganizing and reinventing."

The most ambitious parts of the plan may take years to happen, if they happen at all. Nwosu pointed out that many goals are interlinked: You can't expect enrollment to rise until you've improved student services. You can't improve student services without launching the staff development plans. You can't work on staff development without a budget, and for that you need to get your fundraising operation off the ground.

But students may see some changes right away. Nwosu said TSU's Web site will change to suit the Web-surfing habits of its computer-savvy students. The school is pushing to go paperless, putting publications online in a move that saves not only trees but also money.

Every six months, the planning committee will come together to report on how its efforts are progressing. The final version of the strategic plan should be complete within the next month.

The Tennessee Board of Regents will review TSU's plan, along with the rest of the five-year plans its schools will submit, this summer.

Alcorn's plan for student housing hits snag

Higher education leaders say the economy has thrown a bit of a wrench into Alcorn State University’s plans for a privatized housing development.

At the state College Board meeting this morning, board members granted Alcorn President George Ross the authority to possibly use the traditional bond financing model for new student housing.

Alcorn is aiming to be the first public university in the state to use private money to finance a residence hall. Proponents say the method speeds up the process and does not add to the university's debt because the bonds are secured through the university foundation.

"The (privatized) model works," but there was no way to anticipate the state of the nation's financial market at the time, he said.

Alcorn currently is in negotiations with one bank to continue moving forward with the privatized method, but Ross said he sought approval for the traditional financing model just in case that doesn’t work out.

"Housing is desperately needed at Alcorn," he said.

AAMU board cancels meeting after failing to get a quorum

Gov. Bob Riley's office has announced cancellation of the Alabama A&M University board of trustees meeting planned for today. Spokesman Todd Stacy said the board could not reach a quorum of seven members.

Dr. Shefton Riggins, president pro tempore of the trustee board, called the meeting Wednesday. Riggins used a provision in the A&M bylaws that let him reconvene a meeting recessed in January due to no quorum.

Riggins planned to interview again the three finalists for A&M president, a university press release said. It was not clear afternoon whether the three - Dr. Lawrence Davenport of Florida, Dr. Andrew Hugine Jr. of South Carolina and Dr. Rodney Smith of Virginia - had already headed here. None could be reached by phone Friday afternoon.

Trustees are expected to try again next week.

AAMU board to meet; could select new leader

After months of delays, Alabama A&M University's on-again, off-again presidential search is back on again with the announcement that the A&M board of trustees will meet this morning on the campus in Normal (AL) to possibly select a president.

The trustees will meet at 9:30 a.m. in what is being called a continuation of a Jan. 31 meeting that was closed but not adjourned. That meeting in Birmingham heard from all three presidential finalists but did not have a quorum for a vote.

The meeting announcement came one day after the chairman of the state Senate Confirmations Committee said Tuesday Gov. Bob Riley's appointees to the board of trustees are in danger of failing for a second straight year.

Sen. Hinton Mitchem, D-Union Grove, said that's because Riley still has not sent their names to the confirmations committee and because of opposition from the Alabama Education Association.

Riley's office has continued to delay sending the four names - David Slyman Jr. of Huntsville; Leroy C. Richie of Birmingham, Mich.; Mayor Edward E. May of Bessemer; and the Rev. Willie Clyde McNeil of Chatom - after AEA called for a public hearing.

The confirmations committee rejected all four last year, but Riley reappointed them after the Legislature adjourned in 2008. In December the Alabama Supreme Court issued a ruling allowing the Riley appointees to remain on the board.

The finalists for president are Dr. Lawrence Davenport of Florida, Dr. Andrew Hugine Jr. of South Carolina and Dr. Rodney Smith of Virginia. Davenport has since taken a job at a charter school in Rhode Island. It is unclear whether he remains a candidate.

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AAMU interviews finalist for president

Three Howard University seniors awarded Fulbright scholarships

Howard Seniors Florence Maher, Kelly McCray and Justin P. Dunnavant were named 2009 Fulbright Scholars.

Three Howard University seniors will head to Jamaica, Germany and Thailand next fall as recipients of the 2009 Fulbright Scholarship.

Justin P. Dunnavant (B.A. candidate, History and Anthropology, ‘09), Florence Maher (B.A. candidate, Political Science and Economics, ‘09) and Kelly McCray (B.A. candidate, English and Greek, ‘09) have received the coveted award. The trio brings the number of Howard University Fulbright scholars since 1998 to 22. The awards are for one year of study and/or research that can be pursued in more than 140 countries.

“The selection of these outstanding College of Arts and Sciences students as Fulbright Scholars is an indication of the high quality of a Howard University education, the effectiveness of faculty mentoring, and the enhanced strategic emphasis that President Sidney A. Ribeau is placing on global learning and internationalization,” said Alvin Thornton, Ph.D., Interim Provost and Chief Academic Officer.

Dunnavant will travel to Jamaica to research African cultural retentions through archaeological data, with a goal of expanding understanding of the African experience in the Americas. Maher is headed to Germany and will explore social integration on the German-Polish border. McCray will spend a year teaching in Thailand as part of the English Teaching Assistantship program.

Hamilton Cunningham was recently named a 2009 Truman Scholar. Cunningham is Howard University’s sixth Truman Scholar since 1989. Cunningham, an economics major in the College of Arts and Sciences (COAS), plans to pursue a Masters of Arts in Art Policy and Administration. He is one of only 60 students from 55 colleges and universities across the nation selected for this honor. More than 600 candidates were nominated for the award by 289 colleges and universities. The prestigious Truman Scholarship provides up to $30,000 for graduate study. It is awarded annually to students who have excelled academically and are committed to careers in public service.

U.S. Chief Justice visits NCCU Law

John G. Roberts Jr., chief justice of the United States, visited N.C. Central University's law school today. The chief justice largely avoided the limelight and the camera. Roberts spent most of his time not before a crowd but with small groups of students and lawyers. His schedule was tightly controlled, and the media - aside from one campus newspaper reporter - was barred.

For NCCU students, the visit was a rare opportunity. Roberts was on campus to preside over the school's moot court competition.

Roberts, who joined the nation's high court as its chief justice in 2005, visits just a handful of law schools each year. Two years ago,NCCU Law Dean Raymond Pierce met him at a judicial conference in West Virginia and asked him to speak at NCCU.

Roberts told Pierce that he doesn't usually give speeches but he'd preside over a moot court competition - in which teams of law students argue a case on appeal to a panel of judges.

Roberts will met with students, presided over the competition and held a U.S. Supreme Court Bar swearing-in ceremony for about 20 NCCU law alums, said Pierce, who doled out most of the 120 seats in the NCCU courtroom to students through a lottery, leaving plenty of alums and professors alike disappointed.

Roberts visits about six or seven law schools a year, often to preside over moot court competitions and occasionally for other reasons, Arberg said.

Roberts' visit is a coup for this small but well-regarded law school stuck between Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill, two institutions with law schools boasting larger reach and profile. Duke has hosted U.S. Supreme Court justices at least a handful of times, and two chief justices have spoken on campus, William Rehnquist in 2002 and Earl Warren in 1963.

In the last decade, UNC-CH has hosted associate justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Sandra Day O'Connor.

NCCU has hosted just one in its history, associate justice Potter Stewart in 1980.

If the six NCCU students chosen for the moot court competition never argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court during their careers, they can at least say they took legal fire from the nation's chief justice. Roberts was joined on the panel by Allyson Duncan, a former NCCU law professor who sits on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Henry Frye, a former member of the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Dominique Williams, a third-year law student, is one of NCCU's six participants in a case involving whether the government should be allowed to medicate a man in order for him to be considered competent and able to stand trial.

"We all have put in long nights and endless days," he said. "It's a great honor, so we've prepared very hard to make the university proud."

Bryan Nye was a second-year law student at the University of Kansas last year when Roberts presided over his moot court competition there.

Nye was wound pretty tight until he attended a question-and-answer session with Roberts before the competition. Seeing Roberts in person, joking and approachable, put him at ease.

"If you get to hear him speak, you'll realize he's brilliant, but also, he's very personable," Nye recounted recently by phone from his home in Kansas. "He's not out to get you as a law student."

FAMU grads bringing new movie to the big screen

FAMU grads Rob Hardy and Will Packer are preparing to bring their latest feature film to the "big screen" OBSESSED later this month. The film is set for release on April 24, and features Beyonce' Knowles, Idris Elba, and Ali Larter.

The story line centers around a successful assets manager Derek (Idris Elba) who receives a major promotion, is blissfully happy in his career and in his marraige to the beautiful Sharon (Beyonce'). When Lisa (Ali Later), a temp worker,starts stalking Derek, all the things he's worked so hard for are placed in jeopardy.

Packer serves as executive producer of the film. You can peep the movie trailer here.

You might also be interested in other movies by this talented Rattler duo: This Christmas

Stomp the Yard

Lawsuits against accrediting agencies becoming routine

Two recent lawsuits by universities against an accrediting organization underscore the sometimes-contentious relationship between the groups that monitor quality in higher education and the institutions that try to meet those accreditors' benchmarks.

The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education placed four universities' pharmacy programs on probation in January for not meeting some of the council's standards and gave the institutions until June to shape up or risk losing the programs' accreditation altogether.

Those actions seemed unfair and undeserved to at least some of the universities, so they fought back through legal action. In February Xavier University of Louisiana filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New Orleans alleging that the council had violated its own rules and damaged the university's reputation.

Then in March Hampton University, in Virginia, filed a similar lawsuit in federal district court in its state.

Nova Southeastern University, in Florida, also is considering legal action even as it tries to remedy the problems identified by the council.

Palm Beach Atlantic University, also in Florida, was the fourth college placed on probation by the pharmacy council this year. David W. Clark, the university's president, said in a written statement that he believes the university has "addressed all the accreditors' concerns" and expects the institution's status to be restored in June.

Legal and accreditation experts said it is not uncommon for colleges to file lawsuits against accreditors, who risk a backlash as they try to enforce standards in ways that don't damage institutions' reputations or threaten their ability to improve.

Edward Waters College, in Florida, and Hiwassee College, in Tennessee, successfully went to court in 2005 to get their accreditation reinstated while their challenges to the accreditation process were being resolved.

An accreditor's negative ruling could discourage potential faculty members from seeking employment at an institution and scare prospective students from enrolling.

Colleges must be accredited by an organization that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for its students to be eligible to receive federal financial aid. In addition, state licensing boards often require professional programs in the health fields to be accredited in order for students in those programs to be able to practice within the state.

"I think there’s a fine line the accreditors have to walk between taking actions that uphold their standards, but working with and fostering improvement in the institution," said Cynthia A. Davenport, executive director of the Association of Specialized & Professional Accreditors, a Chicago-based group representing about 50 national and regional accrediting organizations.

Xavier University settled its lawsuit with the accreditation council last month. The council rescinded the university's probation, but no other details of the settlement were made public.

Hampton University also did not meet the accreditor's standard for what it considers to be an adequate number of faculty members and was only partially compliant with the criterion for faculty salaries. The council has not filed a response to Hampton's complaint, and no hearings have yet been scheduled in the case.

Nova Southeastern was also told that it had too few faculty members and paid them too little.

Officials from those three universities argue that the benchmarks, especially for the number of faculty members, are not specifically defined by the pharmacy council. And the colleges say their situations are not unlike those at many other institutions across the country. They cited a recent survey by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, which found that faculty vacancies at pharmaceutical programs are a persistent national problem.

The main argument in the lawsuits filed by both Hampton and Xavier is that the accreditor did not follow due process, said Mark L. Pelesh, a lawyer and accreditation expert who now lobbies Congress and the U.S. Department of Education for Corinthian Colleges Inc. Courts generally give deference to the actual decisions and standards of accreditors, he said, so institutions are more likely to challenge accreditors' procedures.

In its complaint to the federal district court, Xavier said the council should have given the institution written notice that it was not in full compliance with accrediting standards before voting to place the pharmacy program on probation. Instead, Xavier said, the accreditor's board did not send that information until more than two weeks after making its judgment. The university also asserted it should have been given one year, rather than just six months, to fix the problems accreditors noted in a July letter to the institution.

Although probation is generally considered a limited action that gives the institution time to fix problems before facing more-severe sanctions, Hampton officials say that such a designation still hurts a university's reputation and that the courts are the only place for the institution to turn to repair the damage. Under the council's rules, Hampton cannot appeal probation to the accreditor's board and must place a notice on its School of Pharmacy's Web site that its doctoral program has been placed on probation.

Hampton has "no recourse, except for this suit, to challenge something that we feel is completely unfair and unwarranted," said Joyce M. Jarrett, the university's provost. "If they thought that only six months was necessary [to correct the problems], why put us on probation?"

Although students who graduate from the program while it is on probation will not be barred from practicing in Virginia, Ms. Jarrett worries that potential students might shy away from the university because of the uncertainty over whether the program will remain accredited until they graduate.

Andrés Malavé, dean of Nova Southeastern's College of Pharmacy, said that publicizing the university's probation by posting it on the Web site creates a stigma, making it more difficult to fix the very problems that the council has identified. The accreditor, he said, is saying probation "is not a negative action, but if anyone reads that we are on probation, they will not want to come here, faculty or students."

After July, Nova Southeastern will be spending about $500,000 more per year on faculty salaries, and all faculty members will be paid at least the national average for their positions, which Mr. Malavé believes will satisfy the accreditor's concern.

At the same time, the option to sue the pharmacy council is "still on the table," said Ken Ma, a spokesman for the university.

Frank B. Murray, an expert in accreditation and a professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware, said the lawsuits highlight many of the classic tensions between universities and accreditors, such as differences over whether benchmarks should be measured broadly, which allows lots of flexibility but also creates the potential for misunderstanding, or be based on more-rigid standards that leave no room for institutions to design programs that meet their particular needs.

For example, colleges and accreditors can have completely different views of how to provide adequate staffing if such a standard is not clearly defined. A college may decide to hire professionals who work in specific fields to teach part time in order to give students more exposure to real-world experience. But accreditors may want to see more full-time faculty members and accuse the college of trying to operate on the cheap.

Hampton's legal complaint raises another issue. The university noted that four historically black universities that operate pharmaceutical programs have been placed on probation by the pharmacy council over the past three years. In addition to the programs at Hampton and Xavier, those at Florida A & M and Howard Universities have been on probation.

At the same time, the pharmacy council last year gave six-year accreditation terms to two pharmacy programs elsewhere that were partially compliant or noncompliant with two of the council's standards, Hampton's complaint states, and gave two-year accreditation to seven programs that had three or more deficiencies.

Hampton is not charging the council with racial discrimination, Ms. Jarrett said. But she added that she has concerns about the council's recent actions against minority-serving institutions.

"I think one needs only look at the evidence. I am troubled that there seems to be a pattern," she said.