Letters to and from the North Central Association
of Colleges
and Schools
NCA (Letter 1) --
April 24, 1996: Steven Crow, the
Deputy Director of
the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools to complainant,
Marie O'Hara.
NCA (Letter
2) -- Enclosure Letter
-- April 25, 1996: Steven Crow
to the
Deputy Director of the North Central Association of Colleges
and Schools
to SBU President, Roy Blunt.
NCA (Letter 3)
-- November 4, 1996: Steven
Crow, the Deputy Director
of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools to
complainant,
Marie Ann O'Hara.
COMMENTS
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April 24, 1996:
Letter from Steven Crow, Deputy Director
of the
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools to complainant,
Marie Ann O'Hara.
~~~~~~~~~~~~*******~~~~~~~~~~~~~
North Central Association of Colleges and
Schools
Commission on Institutions of Higher Education
30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2400
Chicago, Illinois 60602-2504
312/263-0456; 800/621-7440
Fax: 312/263-7462;
Internet: Info@ncaihe.org
or crow@ncaihe.org
April 24, 1996
Marie Ann O'Hara
[address deleted]
Bolivar, MO 65613
Dear Ms. O'Hara:
I am sorry you have had problems getting information through to the
Commission's office. Your fax today did come through, and it was
forwarded to me, the staff liaison for Southwest Baptist University.
Usually the Commission does not become involved in grievances being
settled through the courts. It appears that you are currently in
litigation with the University. However, because the Commission
will have an evaluation team on campus next week, I am forwarding
your complaint to the President of Southwest Baptist University
and asking him to provide the team chair with a copy of it. I am
also asking him to explain the University's response. The chair
is free to determine whether the issues raised in your letter are
germane to the accrediting process, and therefore deserving of the
team's attention.
The enclosed letter to President Blunt states my reasons for handling
the complaint in this manner.
Sincerely,
Steven D. Crow
Deputy Director
CC. Dr. Patricia Thrash, Executive Director of the Commission
Mr. Roy Blunt, President, Southwest Baptist University
Enclosure
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NCA (Letter 2)
April 25, 1996: Enclosure
Letter from Steven Crow, Deputy Director
of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools to Southwest
Baptist University President, Roy
Blunt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~*******~~~~~~~~~~~~~
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
Commission on Institutions of Higher Education
30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2400
Chicago, Illinois 60602-2504
312/263-0456; 800/621-7440
Fax: 312/263-7462;
Internet: Info@ncaihe.org
or crow@ncaihe.org
April 25, 1996
President Roy Blunt
Southwest Baptist University
1600 University Avenue
Bolivar, MO 65613-2496
Dear President Blunt:
Please find enclosed a copy of a complaint
against Southwest Baptist
University just filed with the Commission by Marie Ann O'Hara. I
have also enclosed a copy of the letter I sent to her. Because of the
close timing of the Commission's comprehensive evaluation, I am
streamlining somewhat the Commission's complaint process by
sending this material by fax before putting it in the mail.
I ask you to share Ms. O'Hara's materials with the team chair. I
expect you will explain the University's response to her concerns.
If the matter is currently under litigation, the Commission expects
that the courts will handle the matter. Otherwise, the team chair
can determine whether the issues raised by Ms. O'Hara are germane
to the accrediting process and therefore deserving of the team's
attention.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Steven D. Crow
Deputy Director
cc: Dr. Patricia Thrash, Executive Director of the Commission
Ms. Marie Ann O'Hara, complainant .
~~~~~~~~~~~~*******~~~~~~~~~~~~~
November 4, 1996 :
Letter from
Steven Crow, Deputy Director of the
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools to complainant,
Marie Ann O'Hara.
~~~~~~~~~~~~*******~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NCA (Letter 3)
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
Commission on Institutions of Higher Education
30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2400
Chicago, Illinois 60602-2504
312/263-0456; 800/621-7440
Fax: 312/263-7462;
Internet: Info@ncaihe.org
or crow@ncaihe.org
November 4, 1996
Marie Ann O'Hara
[address deleted]
Bolivar, MO 65613
Dear Ms. O'Hara:
I am sorry I did not write to you more promptly after the team visited
the campus of Southwest Baptist University. I forwarded to the team
your complaint materials, sharing them with the institution as well as
the team. As you know, our complaint policy holds that the Commission
will become involved in complaints if it is determined that an institution
is in jeopardy of failing to meet our requirements and criteria.
At the completion of the visit, May 1, 1996, the team chair called me
to say that he had concluded that the Commission did not need to pursue
the matter further. He believed that you and the institution were pursuing
other more appropriate means to resolve the matters and that they did
not have a direct impact on Southwest Baptist University's accreditation.
Sincerely,
Steven D. Crow
Deputy Director
CC. Dr. Patricia Thrash, Executive Director of the Commission
Mr. Roy Blunt, President, Southwest Baptist University
~~~~~~~~~~~~*******~~~~~~~~~~~~~
COMMENTS: Marie O'Hara (or her representatives) communicated
with
the NCA on at least ten (10) occasions during the complaint process from
April 16, 1996 through November of that year, expressing concern that
she had not yet been personally contacted in order to discuss the entirety
of her complaint -- explaining that her April
16, 1996 letter to the North
Central Association of Colleges was intended only to initiate the
investigation.
Each time Marie or her representatives were assured that the complaint
was still in the process of being investigated and that she would be
contacted when her information and testimony were needed.
To her knowledge, the NCA never investigated the situation or examined
the evidence which she had offered.
Marie heard no other word from the NCA until the above letter from Steven
D. Crow, the Deputy Director of the NCA, arrived in mid-November.
The letter was dated November 4, 1996 -- the day after
President and
CEO of SBU, Roy Blunt, was elected as
Congressman of the Seventh
District of Missouri.
In the Fall of 1996, Southwest Baptist University received a recommendation
from the NCA for an additional ten year accreditation.
In Mr. Blunt's words, SBU had received a "clean bill of health."
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