The Interdenominational Theological Center campus in Atlanta. (Image courtesy of Google Maps)(RNS) — Angelique Desiree Carney Howse has many titles: Baptist minister, health care consultant, student advocate.
Come May 11, when she graduates from the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, she will receive another title: Doctor. “I’m relieved because this time last year I did not know if I was going to be able to finish,” said Howse, the president of ITC’s Student Christian League. “I did not know if the school was going to exist.”
ITC, a consortium of seminaries in Atlanta known for its decades of educating Black ministers, is one of several faith-based historically Black colleges and universities that have been struggling with accreditation and other challenges, even as other HBCUs are seeing increases in enrollment and infusions of donations.
Howse credited the Rev. Maisha Handy, ITC’s interim president since September, with improving the center since it declared “financial exigency” last April, saying it would reduce faculty, suspend programs and restructure operations.
“Where we were this time last year, we’ve made a complete 180,” Howse said. “For sure, interim President Handy has done the impossible, made a way out of no way completely. We were in dire financial straits.” (Handy could not be reached immediately for an interview.)
RELATED: Black seminary grads, with debt higher than others, cope with money and ministry
Marcus Burgess. (Courtesy photo)
ITC is not out of the woods. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, an accrediting agency, has placed the center on probation, citing governance and financial concerns.
The agency has placed Virginia Union University — home of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology — on probation for similar reasons, and St. Augustine’s University in North Carolina is awaiting arbitration proceedings after the commission determined its accreditation should be terminated.
“During our appeals process, they did not allow us to show any new evidence,” said Marcus Burgess, interim president of SAU, who took on the role after SACSCOC’s ruling and has worked to bring the school closer to compliance, “rightsizing” the budget and making faculty and staff cuts before Christmas and again earlier this year.
Virginia Union University officials did not respond to a request for comment about its accreditation status. In a Frequently Asked Questions page on its website, the school expressed confidence in addressing the requests of the accrediting body.
“The University is continuing to expand the Busi …
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Come May 11, when she graduates from the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, she will receive another title: Doctor. “I’m relieved because this time last year I did not know if I was going to be able to finish,” said Howse, the president of ITC’s Student Christian League. “I did not know if the school was going to exist.”
ITC, a consortium of seminaries in Atlanta known for its decades of educating Black ministers, is one of several faith-based historically Black colleges and universities that have been struggling with accreditation and other challenges, even as other HBCUs are seeing increases in enrollment and infusions of donations.
Howse credited the Rev. Maisha Handy, ITC’s interim president since September, with improving the center since it declared “financial exigency” last April, saying it would reduce faculty, suspend programs and restructure operations.
“Where we were this time last year, we’ve made a complete 180,” Howse said. “For sure, interim President Handy has done the impossible, made a way out of no way completely. We were in dire financial straits.” (Handy could not be reached immediately for an interview.)
RELATED: Black seminary grads, with debt higher than others, cope with money and ministry
Marcus Burgess. (Courtesy photo)
ITC is not out of the woods. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, an accrediting agency, has placed the center on probation, citing governance and financial concerns.
The agency has placed Virginia Union University — home of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology — on probation for similar reasons, and St. Augustine’s University in North Carolina is awaiting arbitration proceedings after the commission determined its accreditation should be terminated.
“During our appeals process, they did not allow us to show any new evidence,” said Marcus Burgess, interim president of SAU, who took on the role after SACSCOC’s ruling and has worked to bring the school closer to compliance, “rightsizing” the budget and making faculty and staff cuts before Christmas and again earlier this year.
Virginia Union University officials did not respond to a request for comment about its accreditation status. In a Frequently Asked Questions page on its website, the school expressed confidence in addressing the requests of the accrediting body.
“The University is continuing to expand the Busi …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]