Late last week I wrote this story about the release of the UNC system's final report on the mess involving N.C. Central University and its unauthorized satellite campus at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga.
In the story, I wrote that the report didn't place specific blame; that's true, but it did name former Chancellor James Ammons at least once, in a section that points out how odd it seems that the creation of this campus did not follow proper guidelines.
The brief background: In 2004, NCCU created a series of undergraduate programs at the church, whose pastor is Eddie Long, a university trustee. The problem was, the programs were never approved by any of the various bodies who should have either voted on it or been told about it, including campus trustees; the UNC system's governing board, the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges' Commission on Colleges — which accredits NCCU — and the federal Department of Education, which doled out financial aid that made its way to students at the Georgia campus.
Here's where the irony comes in: It seems odd that Ammons would say, as he did in one press conference conducted by teleconference back in August, that he thought the proper processes had been followed. As chancellor at NCCU from 2000 to 2007, Ammons attended pretty much every meeting of the NCCU trustees and the UNC system's Board of Governors, and thus would have been the person to answer questions about the program had it been presented to either of those boards.
But moreover, as the UNC system's recent report points out, Ammons has worked with SACS, the accrediting agency, doing site visits for accreditation reviews of other universities, and even served on that agency's executive committee. As such, he is generally "well versed" in SACS policy, the UNC system report states. Even so, the program created under his leadership was not reported to SACS until three years after the fact.
Ammons left NCCU in the summer of 2007 for the presidency of his alma mater, Florida A & M University. The New Birth story has gotten some attention from FAMU supporters.
The New Birth situation created a scramble over at the Spangler Center, the UNC system's headquarters on Raleigh Road in Chapel Hill. I've been told a dozen or more UNC system and NCCU staffers worked on the 17-page report, which you can check out yourself at the link attached to this blog post.
To give you an idea of how many bases had to be covered to get this report out, here's my summary of how the report was put together. The work included:
• A comprehensive evaluation of all financial activity associated with the New Birth program from 2003 to 2008, including a review of program revenues and expenses; an analysis of all financial aid provided to New Birth students, including eligibility testing; and a completeness search to ensure an accurate accounting of New Birth fiscal activity.
• A search for all documents related to the establishment and operation of the New Birth program, including contacting former NCCU administrators and folks with the New Birth church.
• Interview current and former NCCU employees with first-hand knowledge of the program's origins.
• A review of relevant North Carolina, Georgia and federal statutes and regulations as well as relevant UNC and campus policies.
• A review of credentials of all adjunct faculty who taught at the New Birth site. At first, some current NCCU officials had concerns about the academic credentials of at least some of the New Birth instructors; subsequently, the accrediting agency has concluded that the courses taught there were academically solid.
• A review of the transcripts for all students who took courses at New Birth.
• An analysis of all data from those students concerning transfer credits, course work and grades received.
• A review of NCCU reports and findings from specialized accreditation and certification site visits in criminal justice, business, and hospitality and tourism, the programs that offered courses at New Birth.
• A series of discussions with SACS president Belle Wheelan and her staff and the submission on Sept. 19 of a comparability study analyzing every course taught at the campus. It was that report that convinced SACS to okay the degrees given to 25 New Birth students.
• A series of discussions with Department of Education officials concerning financial aid; it has still not yet been determined whether NCCU will have to pay back any or all of the more than $3 million it received from the feds and doled out to New Birth students.
• A review of all distance education programs at all UNC campuses to make sure this sort of thing wasn't happening elsewhere.
• Consultation with state and legislative leaders, the state auditor's office, the Attorney General and the State Bureau of Investigation.
• Keeping students in the program informed.
• Keeping the UNC Board of Governors and NCCU Board of Trustees informed.
Also of note: While this program's home in the church run by a university trustee has raised quite a few eyebrows, the report found no conflict of interest. The report's precise words:
"While potential conflicts of interest could have existed, no documents in NCCU's possesion indicate that the NCCU Board of Trustees ever considered the New Birth program or Bishop Long's position."
