EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s accreditation is under probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s accreditation is under probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
The university will remain fully accredited throughout the 12 month probation period in which they are expected to work with SACSCOC to solve some issues, UTRGV President Guy Bailey explained.
Accreditation is a process in which academic peers set standards and evaluate institutions to help students – and potential employers – choose reputable colleges.
“While we are disappointed in the probation, we’ll work fully with SACSOC to rectify the issues,” Bailey said.
The university is expecting to receive further details regarding the agency’s decision and expectations by mid January, as not a lot has been made public. But in an internal memo sent out Tuesday, Bailey said some of these issues stem from timing constraints in the creation of UTRGV, which, according to legislation, had a start-up date of Aug. 31, 2015.
UTRGV’s legacy institutions – UT Pan American and UT Brownsville – had to be dissolved along with existing partnerships with other institutions, such as Texas Southmost College.
In the case of TSC, it’s separation from UTB was contingent on the college’s ability to acquire its own accreditation, he explained, creating some of these time constraints.
“We know this was a complex process and one that had really not been done before,” Bailey said. “Anytime you have something of that complexity and a number of agencies involved there’s always a possibility for misunderstandings and for issues.”
Check back for more details.
