SACS speaks

SACS, the accreditation agency for UTRGV has released its document about why the institution has been placed on probation. There isn’t much in the way of new information in the document.

From what I have gathered in news reports, one potential issue is that after UTRGV was established in Fall 2015, the University of Texas Brownsville was apparently still “officially” still a degree granting entity. This was done because Texas Southmost College, which had been joint with UTB for some time, had no accreditation of its own, and keeping UTB going “on paper” allowed TSC to keep going. But the question was, “If UTB still existed, why didn’t students get degrees from UTB instead of UTRGV?”

Excerpts:

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley... was placed on Probation following receipt of self-disclosed information submitted as part of a withdrawn merger application
and receipt of a completed Institutional Summary Form. Prior to the institution’s next review by SACSCOC’s Board of Trustees in December 2017, a Special Committee will conduct an on-site evaluation of the institution’s compliance with the Principles of Accreditation(.) ...

Probation is the most serious sanction imposed by SACSCOC’s Board of Trustees short of loss of accreditation. ... The maximum consecutive time that an institution may be on Probation is two years. In December 2017, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley will conclude 12 months on Probation. ...

What will happen in December 2017? SACSCOC’s Board of Trustees will consider the accreditation status of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley following review of a Monitoring Report submitted by the institution addressing the standards cited above for non-compliance, and the report of a Special Committee that will visit the institution in fall 2017. The Board will have the following options: (1) remove the institution from Probation without an additional report; (2) continue accreditation, continue Probation, authorize a Special Committee, and request an additional report; and (3) remove the institution from membership for failure to comply with the Principles of Accreditation.

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External links

Disclosure Statement Regarding the Status of UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS RIO GRANDE VALLEY