Cheyney was among four universities out of 521 to receive a warning from the Philadelphia-based Middle States Commission on Higher Education in its most recent round of actions in November. The state-run Cheyney - which has long struggled with financial woes and declining enrollment - failed to meet three of the commission's 14 standards.
President Michelle Howard-Vital said in a statement that the university "is in the process of gathering evidence" to show that it is in compliance with commission standards.
"The university has engaged in an extended strategic planning process, reviewed all its policies, and revamped significant administrative processes," said Howard-Vital, who became president in July 2007.
An advisory committee led by H. Patrick Swygert, former president of Howard University in Washington, was created in June to help the 1,480-student historically black university in Delaware and Chester Counties.
Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside and Valley Forge Christian College near Phoenixville also were warned by the commission in November, as was Rockland Community College in New York. Officials for both local schools said they were making required changes and expect to be in compliance soon.
It is rare for an institution to lose accreditation. There has been only one case in the last 20 years in the Middle States region overseen by the commission, said commission spokesman Richard Pokrass.
The commission oversees degree-granting colleges and universities in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and several locations internationally. It is part of the Middle States Association and one of seven such regional accreditors of colleges nationally.
Loss of accreditation would mean that students who attend the school no longer would be eligible for financial aid, which could slash enrollment and cause an institution to close.
If not in compliance after a warning, a school can be given more time and placed in a more severe category, such as probation, before accreditation is removed. More typically, schools fix problems, Pokrass said.
Thirty-five institutions - nearly 7 percent of those in the region - have received warnings since June 2005, says the commission's Web site.
"It's a real wake-up call for them. They get things together and respond fairly quickly," Pokrass said.
Camden County College was warned in June 2007 for violating a standard on "student outcome assessments." The school proved it was meeting the standard - which requires schools to show students are learning what the school intends - and the warning was removed in November 2008.
Though initially surprised by the warning, Camden County College officials said they used it to improve.
"We reached out to Middle States for help and engaged our entire faculty in the process for a full year," said president Raymond Yannuzzi. "We rebuilt every course and every academic program. We also dedicated new resources to the development of the new student-assessment program and to its ongoing function."
The recent warning was Cheyney's first under accreditation standards approved by the commission in 2002.
Based on information submitted by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education - which oversees Cheyney and the 13 other state universities - the commission in September 2008 began to check on Cheyney amid concern about financial management. The commission sent a monitoring team to Cheyney in May.
Cheyney was cited for failing to show proper planning - including financial planning - and allocation of resources.
It also was found in violation of the "integrity" standard, which says schools must show they are following their own policies and procedures.
Pokrass declined to elaborate on specific problems at Cheyney, saying the interaction between the agency and school was confidential.
The university provided a report to the commission in June to show it was in compliance. But the commission found the report of "insufficient quality" and with "limited institutional responses to requested information. . . ."
Cheyney must submit another report by September, demonstrating sound long-range planning, a better budget process, and better policies and procedures in financial aid, student accounts, and student registration.
Westminster was warned that it needed to plan better and show assessment of student learning. The school is "moving full speed ahead to correct" violations, said Dick Dabney, chief operating officer.
The school had a strategic plan, but it was not approved by the board when the commission made its review, he said. The seminary, he said, will submit the other required information.
Valley Forge Christian was cited for failing to meet three standards: assessment of student learning and two others regarding educational offerings. President Don Meyer said the college was addressing the concerns.
"The primary documentation is already occurring, but the report which we completed was not as comprehensive to reflect that," he said.
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