Second Chance at Life

Life University has received a reprieve from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), which decided to put the school's nonchiropractic programs on probation for one year. The decision allows Life to keep its SACS accreditation for the time being, and gives the institution the chance to prove it can survive the mounting financial problems caused by the loss of accreditation of its chiropractic program.

"What happened was basically what we expected, which was good news," said Life President Ben DeSpain, who informed the student body at an assembly on December 10. "It's a very positive statement. They are willing to give us the time to work through our other issues."

SACS arrived at its decision after a yearlong review of Life's management, financial and academic policies. A year ago, the agency issued a public warning against the university, a step just below probationary status in terms of sanctions. The warning recommended 52 separate changes to the school's infrastructure and was based on a variety of factors, including financial instability, mismanagement and poor faculty instruction and preparation.

According to DeSpain, many of those factors will soon be resolved.

"Their primary concerns were in four areas," he said to reporters at WSB, a television station in Atlanta. "We're working on three of those already. One of those was leadership; another was the board (referring to Life's Board of Trustees), and financial viability. So, the bulk of the questions were along those lines."

Keeping its accreditation with SACS may be the one thing that breathes new life into Life. Had the agency chosen to skip probation and revoke Life's accreditation, the school would almost certainly have had to close its doors. Without regional accreditation, students cannot qualify for federally subsidized student loans. An estimated 80 percent of Life's students use federal aid to cover the costs of tuition, which can run as high as $58,000, depending on the degree being pursued.

Having the extra year also allows Life to get its administrative affairs in order, while giving school officials time to focus on reclaiming accreditation for its chiropractic program. On October 20, 2002, the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) rejected an appeal from the university and revoked the program's accreditation. Ironically, the CCE announced its decision on the same day DeSpain was announced as Life's new president.

"You're always better off when you have one war to fight instead of two, and this, of course, puts us in a situation where we are not in jeopardy with (SACS)," DeSpain told WXIA-TV in Atlanta. "We have the time. Now, we turn our attention to the (CCE), which is, in fact, the big, big problem here at the moment."

"We want to save the university. That is our intention. That is our goal."

Sadly, the decision to put Life on probation is about the only good news school officials have received in the past few months. The university has been awash in financial difficulties since its chiropractic program's accreditation was revoked, with hundreds of students either dropping out of school or transferring to other colleges. Among the most recent setbacks:

• At least three separate lawsuits have been filed against the university and its former president, Dr. Sid Williams, for failing to maintain the chiropractic program's accreditation. One suit filed by a former Life professor, Joseph Hoffman, DC, JD, may be reclassified as a class-action suit, which could open the school to millions of dollars in damages. According to court documents obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, nearly 200 former and current students have already filed suit.


• The abrupt loss in tuition revenue has also wrought havoc with Life's financial stability. While the school has cash assets of approximately $13 million and properties valued at approximately $66 million, a $32 million bond issue for campus improvements recently fell into "technical default." Life recently put $3 million in escrow to cover 14 months of bond payments, and under the direction of Michael Schmidt, DeSpain's immediate predecessor, the school's annual budget was slashed by more than $10 million, including the elimination of its well-known sports program.


• Existing CCE policy states that chiropractic programs that lose their accreditation must sit through a two-year compliance period before they can reapply. Under those circumstances, Life would have to wait until at least June 2004 before it could reapply for reaccreditation, and until January 2005 before its chiropractic program could be reaccredited - a situation school officials have called unacceptable. As a result, Life's Board of Trustees has authorized the school to pursue "all appropriate legal actions" against the Council on Chiropractic Education, up to and including filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education, which has oversight of all accrediting agencies in the country (including the CCE). In December, Dr. Williams called for a federal probe into the council's actions, claiming Life's reputation in the chiropractic community "brought fear to the accrediting agency."

References

1. "Life University programs put on probation." WSB, December 10, 2002. Available online at www.access atlanta.com/partners/wsbtv/news/life1210.html.
2. Weber R. Morris Brown College stripped of accreditation; Life University put on probation. Athens Banner-Herald December 10, 2002.
3. Hoff V, Rowe S. Life University gets one year probation. WXIA-TV, December 10, 2002. Available online at www.11alive.com/news/news_ article.asp?storyid=25057.