UMO to Maintain Accreditation and Address Financial Resources
December 07, 2021
Contact: Rhonda Jessup, Director of Public Relations
MOUNT OLIVE – Following its 10-year reaffirmation visit by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSCOC), the University of Mount Olive has received notification that it will maintain its accreditation. Further, the University will need to address a single issue of financial resources. During the next 24 months, the University will be placed on warning, a lesser of two temporary sanctions often levied on institutions of higher learning.
UMO President Dr. H. Edward Croom noted that it is not uncommon for colleges and universities to be placed on warning. “In most cases, institutions fulfill their obligations and are compliant with all SACSCOC standards within their given time frames,” Croom said. “That is exactly our goal here at the University of Mount Olive. We know where to focus our efforts to be in compliance with this one standard, and we are making notable strides in that direction.”
Croom indicated that the University has already corrected financial protocols and will continue to make satisfactory progress toward compliance, which will be reported in the University’s next two audit cycles.
“Our communication with the SACSCOC Board was optimistic regarding the financial responsibility that the University has shown,” Croom said, “and, the critical steps we have taken over the past 12 months have been positively received.”
Like many businesses and organizations faced with budgetary shortfalls, much of which were exacerbated by COVID-19, the next two years will provide UMO with opportunities to demonstrate continued progress in growing the financial strength of the University.
“While we take this matter very seriously,” Croom said, “I want to make it clear that this does not affect, in any way, our ability to receive federal funding, including financial aid and Pell Grants. Rather, it is an opportunity for us to take a hard look at our financial structure and make some additional needed adjustments within the next two years.”
The University of Mount Olive is a private institution rooted in the liberal arts tradition with defining Christian values. The University is sponsored by the Convention of Original Free Will Baptists. The University of Mount Olive is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the associate, baccalaureate, and master’s degrees. For more information, visit www.umo.edu.
