Accreditation body scrutinizes Life U. 
09/19/02
By Phillip Giltman
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer
MARIETTA ‹ Nine months after Life University received a warning 
sanction from its accrediting body, officials from the Southern 
Association of Colleges and Schools evaluated the embattled 
institution during a campus visit earlier this week. 
In December of last year, SACS issued a warning sanction and 
refused to renew Lifeıs accreditation for a 10-year period. The 
school was given a one-year extension on their accreditation.
³The reasons for the public sanction of warning and the denial of 
reaffirming the institutionıs accreditation for 10 years involved 
faculty credentials, financial insufficiency and instability, deficiencies 
of administrative and governing board leaders and deficiencies of 
planning and evaluation,² SACS Associate Executive Director Dr. Tom 
Benburg said.
During the three-day visit, which ended Wednesday, officials 
conducted interviews, measured the institutionıs progress and 
evaluated whether the school is complying with accreditation 
standards, according to Benburg, one of the six committee members 
who visited the university.
He said he could not comment on the evaluation, but could explain 
how the evaluation process works and what is involved in a site 
visit.
³Basically, the evaluators meet with the administration, faculty, 
students and board of trustees to verify that the institution has met 
accreditation standards,² he said.
Benburg said the committee will submit their evaluation to the 
accreditation commission, which will decide in December the 
universityıs accreditation status.
³The commission can basically do one of four things,² said Dr. 
Donald Crump, also an associate executive director with SACS. ³The 
institution can be accredited, it can be placed on warning, it can be 
placed on probation, or it can be dropped from membership from the 
accrediting agency.²
SACS is not the only accreditation body with which Life is in hot 
water. 
The Council on Chiropractic Education stripped Life of its 
accreditation in June. The university has maintained its chiropractic 
credentials while awaiting word on an appeal that should arrive in 
the next three weeks.
Crump said that once a school is placed on warning or the more-
severe sanction of probation, the institution has two years to 
comply with the agencyıs accreditation criteria or the school could 
lose its membership with SACS.
³Reaffirmation usually occurs once every 10 years, but we are 
responsible for visits any time there is reason to assume the 
institution is having difficulty complying with the criteria of 
accreditation,² he said.
Benburg said that if an institution is dropped from SACS 
membership, the school, if it so desires, can reapply for 
accreditation, a process which could take three to five years.
He also noted that SACS evaluates the entire institution, not just 
individual programs.
³We consider everything that is incorporated into Life University, 
including the chiropractic program,² he said. ³We donıt go into great 
detail because we are conducting a general review of the school.²
Benburg said the evaluation of the visit would not be the sole 
means by which the accreditation commission makes its decision.
³The report of this committee will be only one of the many items 
they will be considering,² he said.
Established in 1895, SACS accredits more than 12,000 public and 
private educational institutions from pre-kindergarten to the 
university level in 11 Southeastern states. Degrees from 
unaccredited schools are generally frowned upon in professional 
circles. 
With its recent accreditation woes, student enrollment at Life 
dropped 17 percent over the summer ‹ a loss of about $2 million in 
revenue. The universityıs total budget for the 2000 fiscal year was 
$49.7 million, according to IRS filings. Life recorded a net loss of 
$2.4 million for that fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, 2000.
Fall student enrollment figures ‹ which should be available in the 
next two weeks ‹ are expected to drop sharply. 
Budget woes forced Life to lay off 49 employees last month. The 
university also axed its athletic program and funding for the Lights 
of Life Christmas decorations. Former athletic director Roger Kaiser 
has been hired to raise money to keep the Lights of Life lit.
pgiltman@mdjonline.com