Virginia Union University remains optimistic of lifting the dark cloud that hangs over its accreditation – a key requirement for its students to access federal student loans – despite record enrollment, a strengthened academic program and increased donations.

According to Dr. Hakim J. Lucas, president of the 158-year-old historically Black private university, the Richmond school is doubling down on its efforts to ensure its financial operations meet the standards required to maintain accreditation.

In his view and that of the school’s board chairman, Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, a school devoted to excellence can do no less.

“Our march toward best-in-class continues, and we continue working to align our operations with our aspirations,” Dr. Lucas stated in vowing to eliminate any concerns about the school’s status as an accredited institution.

VUU has 12 months to get its financial house in order after receiving the strongest warning yet from its accreditation agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

The commission, which has monitored VUU for two years for compliance, placed VUU on probation Dec. 3 and gave the school a year to meet the financial standards or face the consequences. Probation is the final step before accreditation is removed.

VUU knows what is at stake. At the same time that VUU was placed on probation along with several other schools, SACSCOC voted to remove accreditation from another historically Black school, St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh. The beleaguered 166-year-old school is appealing, allowing it to remain accredited until the appeal is decided.

The Richmond school, which operates on a July 1-June 30 fiscal year has faced accreditation trouble since 2022 due to late delivery of its financial audits. SACSCOC placed VUU on warning that year and continued monitoring the school in 2023.

The December decision noted that SACSCOC only allows a school two years to come into compliance but can grant a third year of probation “for good cause,” which was found in VUU’s case.

Audit deadline met, common “findings”

Dr. Lucas, who became the 13th president in 2017, wrote in a letter to the faculty, staff and students that VUU met the initial concern of SACSCOC this year by providing a timely audit to the accrediting body prior to the Dec. 3 meeting.

He reported VUU achieved its goal “of meeting standards for institutional effectiveness and for filing the financial audit in a timely manner and won recognition from SACSCOC’s board that the school ‘has demonstrated recent significant accomplishments.’We have come a long way over the past year.”

However, according to Dr. Belle Wheelan, president of SACSCOC, the standards require every accredited school to deliver an audit that is free of auditor findings of problems with financial controls, and, as Dr. Lucas confirmed, VUU did not do that.

Dr. Lucas wrote that the audit delivered to SACSCOC “included findings,” which he noted are quite common in the audits of large organizations but still kept VUU squarely in SACSCOC’s crosshairs.

He expressed disappointment that a university where “great things are happening” was placed on probation, but added, “it is important to understand the university agrees (with the probation decision). We aspire to an audit with no findings. We have delivered these in the past, and we expect to deliver one again in 2024.”

In an interview, he acknowledged that the last audit VUU provided without any findings was submitted in 2016. He declined to disclose the specific findings that were included in the audit that was completed by late summer for the 2022-23 fiscal year that ended June 30.

Step by step

To ensure a zero finding audit, Dr. Lucas spelled out the steps that are being taken to ensure SACSCOC will not take any further action against the school.

The steps including having the university’s chief financial officer report directly to Dr. Lucas and to work with the school’s business office to implement an audit readiness and effectiveness plan.

In addition, Dr. Lucas stated the business office has been allowed to hire additional staff and an outside accounting firm has been retained to supplement the internal staff.

Dr. Lucas also stated that he has directed that internal processes be streamlined to allow quicker processing of transactions and authorized the school’s external auditor to conduct an interim review of the school’s procedures for preparing for the audit in order to identify and correct any concerns.

An Audit Committee also is being created, he stated, and a schedule of monthly meetings is in place for the board’s executive committee to meet with the new committee and members of the school’s Finance and Investment committees to monitor progress. “This will further strengthen the board’s ability to exercise its fiduciary responsibility,” he stated.

He stated those actions are being taken while the university continues to meet other challenges, including ensuring that the curriculum remains strong, that students are not overburdened with debt and that the school’s buildings are maintained.

Record enrollment, ranking

Dr. Lucas noted that the accreditation problem arises as VUU hits its stride in other ways. VUU enrolled a record 2,068 students in undergraduate and graduate programs in September, an 11% increase from 2022, he stated.

The school also has increased revenue by 39% from 2019 and increased net assets 13% while reducing long-term debt by 39% and increasing fundraising by 350% over pre-pandemic levels, he continued.

VUU also is now No. 39 on U.S. News magazine’s rankings of historically Black colleges and universities, he stated. Before he arrived six years ago, he stated, VUU “was not ranked at all.

“Today, we are the only HBCU to consistently improve in ranking seven years in row,” he continued and also just won the CIAA football championship for the first time in 22 years.

“These are all reasons to celebrate,” Dr. Lucas stated, “and they challenge us to move faster and do more.”