Angelina College remains fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). The Board of Trustees of SACSCOC chose not to reaffirm the College’s accreditation during the normal reaffirmation process, and placed the College on probation for one year in order to address concerns documented during the association’s most recent review in November. The SACSCOC Board of Trustees will reconsider the College’s application for reaffirmation in June 2017.
When Angelina College was writing its reaffirmation self-study, administrators used boilerplate language from another institution’s reaffirmation document as a guideline. However, those administrators mistakenly left information from the other college’s document, including that institution’s name and some of its academic parameters, in Angelina College’s report. The document was signed by college officials stating it was the college’s original work. The decision by the SACSCOC Board of Trustees to place AC on probation is intended to ensure the college’s processes and procedures will prevent this type of mistake from being repeated. The college will also respond to concerns with its assessment of learning outcomes and its documentation of continuous improvement in its academic programs.
Angelina College president Dr. Michael J. Simon stated, “Integrity is one of the most critical aspects of the accreditation process. Although the college has not received official correspondence from the SACSCOC Board of Trustees, it is my understanding that a SACSCOC special committee has been authorized to review the institution to ensure this type of error does not happen again.”
Dr. Simon continued, “The College takes this matter very seriously and is committed to resolving these concerns so that our reaffirmation will be approved at the end of the probationary period.”
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges is the regional body for accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states. Accreditation by SACSCOC signifies that the institution (1) has a mission appropriate to higher education, (2) has resources, programs, and services sufficient to accomplish and sustain that mission, and (3) maintains clearly specified educational objectives that are consistent with its mission and appropriate to the degrees it offers, and that indicate whether it is successful in achieving its stated objectives.
For more information, contact Dr. Michael J. Simon at 936-633-5201
