Life U gets key stamp of approval

By KRISTINA TORRES
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
12/07/04

Shaun Roach enrolled in Life University 2 1/2 years ago, just as the Marietta-based school 
was falling into financial and academic trouble. He stuck around, though, even when many 
of his classmates left.

Tuesday, Roach joined in the "whooping and hollering" when it was announced that Life 
was back in good standing with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Andy Sharp/AJC 

Life University President Guy Riekeman beams after learning that the Marietta-based 
school's accreditation has been restored.

"I think it's going to bring back students, and I think it's going to open people's eyes," 
said Roach.

The association took the chiropractic college off probation Tuesday and renewed its 
accreditation, mainly because Life put its finances back in order.

"They have made the kind of progress we were looking for," said the association's 
executive director, Jim Rogers.

The association's decision was key to Life's survival. Without it, the school would be 
ineligible for federal student aid and students' degrees would have been virtually worthless.

The association placed Life on probation two years ago, when the school was more than $1 
million in debt. The same year, the Council on Chiropractic Education also placed Life on 
probation, at odds over what the college's students learned about chiropractic medicine and 
how it was applied in community clinics run by the school.

Without the council's accreditation, graduates of chiropractic schools cannot be licensed to 
practice in most states. Last month, the council extended Life's probation through July. 
The SACS decision likely will play a role in Life's push to regain full status with the 
council.

Life's turnaround can be credited in large part to two people.

Ben DeSpain, a 30-year university and public school administrator, was hired as president 
in November 2002. He made several cutbacks, including axing the school's athletic 
program.

He also saw the school through a review by SACS a year ago, which led the association to 
extend the school's probation instead of revoking its accreditation altogether.

Then, last March, Life hired Dr. Guy Riekeman, who had been leading the Palmer 
University System in Iowa ã Life's chief chiropractic rival. Riekeman brought a 
reputation for recruiting students and raising money. In the past eight months, he did both.

The school raised $4.85 million from supporters the past few months and is $145,000 in 
the black. The university has an annual budget of about $22 million.

The school's enrollment, which had dropped into the hundreds, has steadied at 1,234 
students. It was as high as 3,500. About 100 new students have been accepted into Life's 
undergraduate program for next semester. The SACS decision is expected to bolster 
recruiting efforts.

"We had to get the money together, and Dr. Riekeman pulled that off," said Keith Rau, 
president of Life's faculty senate. "In the meantime, the faculty has been plugging along."

Rau said his colleagues are feeling "elation, exhaustion, all that."

The school will immediately start mailing recruitment brochures to potential 
undergraduates, hold strategic planning sessions, and brainstorm new research 
components.

Riekeman hopes to overhaul the curriculum, invest in research and promote discussion 
about "the future of health care policy." The school's two clinics in Marietta will expand. 
Research will explore chiropractic care and wellness, pediatrics and geriatrics.

Riekeman had long pegged the SACS decision as a starting line for these changes. Now, it 
seems, Life is back in the race.

"Last week, it was almost impossible to work" waiting for the association's decision, 
Riekeman said. "We had to believe we were going to make it. This feels like a victory."