Eastern Gateway Community College probation extended
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Eastern Gateway Community College working to jump over hurdles after their probation was extended by the Higher Learning Commission. A letter to the college reads in part, "the institution remains out of compliance with criteria for accreditation."
"Accreditation matters a lot," said Doug Lederman Editor, co-founder of Inside Higher Ed. "And the accreditor for eastern gateway continues to ask very hard questions about how the institution is operating," he said.
On top of that, there's a major dip in enrollment that officials attribute to the loss of a free tuition program.
"I don't think we're gonna have the enrollment that we've had in the past the 40, 45 thousand students," said Jim Corrin EGCC Union President. "But I do believe that with the rebranding and the remarketing, I can see us right around 12 thousand to 15 thousand students," he said.
Adding to the list, faculty also voted unanimously in a no-confidence vote against the interim president and others.
"I think it's just an overall combination of a lot of things," said Corrin. "The lack of communication, lack of transparency, just the lack of response on items and issues," he said.
Interim President John Crooks says his door is always open and he's working to fix everything.
"We're in a much better shape," said John Crooks, interim president at EGCC. "Our communication with the united states department of education is better, is more productive and we think we've turned the corner," he said.
That doesn't exactly mean the institution is out of the woods when it comes to a possible shut down, though.
"There's always a risk but we are almost to the point where you don't have to say that," Crooks said.
The next audit is in May.
Read the full letter from the Higher Learning Commission here.