Faculty Senate Statement – 12/16/04
 
The USM Faculty Senate affirms its commitment to joining the University community in resolving the University’s SACS accreditation crisis. However, the Senate expresses its profound concern over the circumstances and sequence of events that have led to the probationary status. We believe a fundamental cause for this serious problem was an inadequate allocation of resources for accreditation responsibilities. Furthermore, we are very concerned that the University’s present strategic plan, produced in November 2004, was generated with no faculty input. In order to emerge successfully from probation, the University must engage its faculty in the development of a comprehensive strategic plan and its subsequent assessment. We also believe immediate steps should be taken to obtain outside, long-term expertise in SACS accreditation to lead us out of this crisis and provide oversight for the next accreditation cycle.
 
The Faculty Senate will continue to closely monitor the situation surrounding accreditation and will discuss the matter further at its January 14 meeting.
 
Executive Committee, USM Faculty Senate