The FAMU Board of Trustees must either rebuff the attempted interference of the Florida governor or risk creating an accreditation problem that will very likely be impossible to fix.Gov. Rick Scott began strong-arming the FAMU trustees to suspend President James H. Ammons on Thursday. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) says if trustees bend to pressure from the governor, it be might be the end of FAMU’s accreditation.
“Should the Board decide to suspend the President that is well within their role as members of the governing board,” SACS President Belle S. Wheelan said in a letter to Scott on December 16. “If, however, they do so at your direction, they will jeopardize the accreditation of the University as well as its ability to provide federal aid to their students.”
Wheelan reminded Scott of SACS Comprehensive Standard 3.2.4: ‘The governing board is free from undue influence from political, religious, or other external bodies and protects the institution from such influence.” FAMU's National Alumni Association also read this portion of Wheelan's letter at a Sunday press conference that urged trustees to keep Ammons in office.
Scott released a statement that tried to backpedal from his "strong recommendation" that Ammons be suspended.
“It is up to the FAMU Board of Trustees and Dr. Ammons to determine how to proceed. I have not and will not try to influence their decision," Scott said. "I simply offered my advice and opinion based on the events and the facts I was made aware of. Like all other Floridians, I will abide by the decisions made by the Board of Trustees and President Ammons tomorrow, and I do not plan to release any further comment before then."
If the governor truly did not want to push FAMU trustees in the direction of suspending Ammons, he would not have said anything in the first place.
The majority of trustees already showed that they did not want to place Ammons on administrative leave when they rejected a motion that would have done so on December 8. If the trustees suddenly suspend the president days after being pressured by the governor, SACS will have an air tight case for ruling that FAMU is not complying with Comprehensive Standard 3.2.4.
The probationary period would give trustees a chance to get back in compliance. But how would they be able to do that? They could try restoring Ammons to his position, but SACS could simply read that as a ploy and refuse to lift the probation.
A university can only remain on probation for two years before losing its accreditation. The only way to prove that the board is free from Scott’s “undue influence” from that point on would be for the governor to leave office. Scott is not going anywhere before his term ends on January 6, 2015.
If FAMU loses its accreditation, it will become ineligible for all the grant and student financial aid programs run by the federal government. Alumni who graduate after the accreditation is revoked would be ineligible for jobs or graduate schools that require a degree from an accredited baccalaureate program.
The only way trustees can prove that they are not being controlled by Scott is to tell him “no” tomorrow and stand by their previous decision to keep Ammons in office. If they do anything else, then FAMU’s blood will be on their hands.