The University of Tennessee at Martin is facing a 12-month probation period on its accreditation status.
On Thursday, interim chancellorRobert Smith sent a letter to students, faculty and staff explaining that the university had received oral notification from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges of accreditation probation pending corrective actions.
University Relations Director Bud Grimes says the SACSCOC has not yet delivered a formal written statement or a list of corrective actions needed to be taken. But he stresses that the probation will not affect student financial aid or scholarships over the next year.
“That’s the part that we’re having a hard time communicating right now that there’s no risk regarding federal funding or student aid, these are not threatened," said Grimes. "Everything remains as it is.”
Special accreditation to the schools of business, engineering and nursing are also unaffected.
UT Martin is part of the statewide University of Tennessee system which Grimes says gives them access to a host of resources and expertise to deal with the issue.
“The good news for us is the resources of the University of Tennessee are at our disposal for dealing with this," said Grimes. "There’s a lot of expertise. Our chancellor is an interim chancellor at this point, but he is very knowledgeable and we’re in a good place to deal with this right now.”
Once the list of corrective actions is received, Grimes says the university plans to work on those and submit a progress report in fall 2016 in time for an on-campus visit by the commission.
UT Martin had a headcount enrollment of 6,827 students in the Fall 2015 semester.
