Faithful blast ruling vs. Life MARIETTA ã Life University supporters criticized the agency that stripped the school of its ch 10/23/02 By Phillip Giltman Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer MARIETTA ã Life University supporters criticized the agency that stripped the school of its chiropractic accreditation Tuesday, questioning how the group could deal such a monumental blow to what was once the nation¼s largest chiropractic school. The Council on Chiropractic Education refused to lift the revocation of Life¼s chiropractic accreditation Sunday. „Life University does not need to be examined, it is the CCE that needs to be examined,¾ Life alumnus Mitchell Almond, 25, said at the second annual Lights of Life Golf Classic fundraiser in Villa Rica. „It seems like the CCE is really singling out Life University.¾ Almond¼s view was shared by many of the participants in the fund- raiser which aims to pay for the Lights of Life Christmas show as well as a national group taking aim at the CCE. The Doctors for Excellence in Chiropractic Education, a nationwide coalition of Life supporters, said they have uncovered what appear to be major organizational problems within the CCE. „While examining the processes and rules CCE uses to accredit and de-accredit chiropractic programs and the legal sources of their authority, DECE was stunned to find that CCE violated its own rules and procedures,¾ said Dr. Donald Hirsch, DECE spokesman. James Turner, DECE¼s lead legal counsel, said the CCE has taken steps to fundamentally change the mission of the CCE from accrediting programs that educate doctors of chiropractic to accrediting programs that educate „primary care physicians.¾ „This dramatic change not only appears to discriminate against those institutions desiring to operate within the traditional definitions and orientations of the chiropractic profession, but has also raised serious legal and operational questions centering on the defenition and meaning of the åprimary care physician¼concept,¾ he said. Turner wrote a letter to the CCE outlining the group¼s concerns in September. The CCE responded later in the month with a six-page letter focusing on errors and inaccuracies in Turner¼s correspondence. In the response written by Dr. Paul Walker, executive vice-president of the CCE, he declined to address specifically many of DECE¼s concerns saying that they were based on lack of information. „Your use of certain legalistic terms indicates a basic lack of knowedge regarding the manner in which issues of non-compliance are addressed in the accreditation setting,¾ he wrote. „And you acknowledge that you and DECE write from a standpoint of ignorance.¾ Walker said the DECE should not expect any future correspondence. Officials from the CCE declined to comment Tuesday. Other participants in the golf fund-raiser didn¼t blame the CCE for Life¼s woes, but remained confident that the school would eventually come out on top. „You have to be kidding me if you really think Life University is going to close its doors,¾ said Ryan Weber, an 11th quarter chiropractic student at Life. „I know they will eventually get their accreditation back. Many students love the school and they love being in Marietta.¾ Most of the golfers attending the fundraiser complimented Dr. Schmidt and the present administration for working with the CCE in hopes of reobtaining its chiropractic accreditation. „Dr. Schmidt is doing a great job,¾ Arnold said. „If you think about all he and the board (of trustees) is up against, you really have to give them some credit for the job they are doing.¾ Life University was stripped of its chiropractic accreditation on June 10 earlier this year but remained accredited while they appealed the CCE¼s decision. The CCE said it stripped Life of its accreditation for a variety of infractions including: failing to maintain a comprehensive and ongoing system of evaluation and planning; establishing insturctional objectives; demonstrating adequacy and stability of basic and clinical sciences, faculty and staff. Life saw its student enrollment drop 38 percent from fall 2001 to fall of this year, a loss of about $21 million in tuition. According to the most recent IRS filings in 2000, the school had an operating budget of about $48 million.