Paine Coll. v. S. Ass'n of Colls. & Sch. Comm'n on Colls., Inc.

• Decision Date: 11 October 2018
• Docket Number: CIVIL ACTION FILE NO. 1:16-CV-3503-TWT
• Citation: 342 F.Supp.3d 1321
• Parties: The PAINE COLLEGE, Plaintiff, v. The SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS COMMISSION ON COLLEGES, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia

342 F.Supp.3d 1321

The PAINE COLLEGE, Plaintiff,

v.The SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS COMMISSION ON COLLEGES, INC., Defendant.

CIVIL ACTION FILE NO. 1:16-CV-3503-TWT

United States District Court, N.D. Georgia, Atlanta Division.

Signed October 11, 2018

Filed October 12, 2018

Benjamin S. Klehr, Brent William Herrin, Gustav H. Small, Jr., Small Herrin, LLP, Atlanta, GA, Claude E. Bailey, Ian D. Volner, Meryl Nolan, Venable, LLP, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.

Letitia A. McDonald, Lohr A. Beck-Kemp, James Matthew Brigman, King & Spalding, LLP, Atlanta, GA, Patrick W. McKee, Law Office of Patrick W. McKee, LLC, Newnan, GA, for Defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER

THOMAS W. THRASH, JR., United States District JudgeThis action arises out of Paine College's loss of accreditation. It is before the Court on the Defendant The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 70] and the Plaintiff The Paine College's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment [Doc. 71]. For the reasons set forth below, the Defendant The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 70] is GRANTED, and the Plaintiff The Paine College's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment [Doc. 71] is DENIED.

I. Background

The Plaintiff The Paine College is a private, co-educational, liberal arts college located in Augusta, Georgia.¹ Paine College is a historically black college whose predecessor, the Paine Institute, was established in 1882.² It is now one of the oldest historically black colleges and universities in the country.³ The Defendant The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, Inc. (the "Southern Association") is a private, nonprofit, voluntary accrediting organization that was founded in Atlanta, Georgia in 1895.⁴ The Southern Association accredits approximately 800 higher education institutions, including a number of historically black colleges and universities.⁵ Paine College was first accredited by a predecessor of the Southern Association in 1931, and has been continuously accredited since then.⁶

The Southern Association's membership is composed of public and non-public degree-granting institutions of higher education. Its day-to-day operations are handled by a staff of approximately 40 individuals.⁷ Each Southern Association member institution is allowed to designate one voting member to the Southern Association College Delegate Assembly. The College Delegate Assembly elects 77 members to serve on the Southern Association Board of Trustees.⁸ The Board of Trustees includes 66 representatives from member institutions, along with 11 public representatives who are not employed by a member institution.⁹ These 11 public representatives come from each state in the Southern Association's geographic region.¹⁰ The Board of Trustees is responsible for guiding the organization's work and implementing the accreditation process.¹¹

The Southern Association Executive Council is a subset of the Board of Trustees.¹² It consists of the Board Chair, a public member, and a representative from each of the 11 southern states in the Southern Association's geographic region.¹³ The Executive Council has a number of responsibilities, including reviewing and approving recommendations from the Committee on Compliance and Reports (the "C & R Committee") prior to the submission of those reports to the full Board of Trustees.¹⁴ The primary responsibility of C & R Committees is to review and recommend action on the accreditation status of member institutions.¹⁵ These recommendations are then reviewed and approved by the Executive Council, and then voted on by the full Board of Trustees.¹⁶ Every Board of Trustees member, other than those members serving on the Executive Council, is assigned to a C & R Committee. Each C & R Committee can contain approximately ten to fifteen Board members.¹⁷ This means that there are several different C & R Committees each year.¹⁸ Every year, each of the institutions that are either applying for accreditation, up for reaffirmation of accreditation, seeking approval of a substantive change, under review, or have been placed on sanctions are divided among the C & R Committees prior to action by the full Board.¹⁹

The Southern Association bases its accreditation decisions on requirements provided in the Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement (the "Principles").²⁰ Members are required to remain in compliance with the Principles at every stage of institutional evaluation to be accredited by the Southern Association, or face sanctions.²¹ These stages of institutional evaluation include the initial application stage, the reaffirmation stage, the substantive change stage, or an evaluation triggered by the receipt of a complaint or unsolicited information.²² The Principles consist of "Core Requirements," "Comprehensive Standards," and "Federal Requirements."²³ The Core Requirements are basic, broad, foundational requirements that an institution must meet to be accredited.²⁴ The Comprehensive Standards, in turn, provide requirements in four specific areas: (1) institutional mission, governance, and effectiveness, (2) programs, (3) resources, and (4) institutional responsibility for the Southern Association policies.²⁵ The Comprehensive Standards are more specific to the operations of the institutions and represent good practices in higher education.²⁶ Under the Principles, institutions must demonstrate compliance with both the Core Requirements and the Comprehensive Standards.²⁷ Compliance with just the Core Requirements is not enough to warrant accreditation or reaffirmation of accreditation, and if an institution is judged to be significantly out of compliance with any of the Comprehensive Standards, the Board of Trustees can deny reaffirmation and place the institution on sanction.²⁸ Finally, with the Federal Requirements, the Southern Association reviews an institution with criteria outlined in federal regulations promulgated by the U.S. Department of Education. The Principles require an institution to document compliance with the Federal Requirements.²⁹

Paine College's membership in the Southern Association was last reaffirmed in July 2011.³⁰ In April 2012, the Augusta Chronicle published articles detailing financial mismanagement at Paine.³¹ These articles explained that Paine lost its eligibility for a student federal loan program, that Paine had not returned unused federal financial aid for students who had withdrawn from the school, that numerous financial aid checks to students bounced, and that Paine lacked adequate policies and procedures to administer its Federal Perkins Loan Program.³² These details were based upon a review of Paine's audited financial statements from the year ending June 30, 2011.³³ The Augusta Chronicle continued to publish articles describing a bleak financial situation at Paine.³⁴

The Southern Association became aware of these articles, and pursuant to its policy regarding unsolicited information, reviewed the information in the articles.³⁵ On April 24, 2012, the Southern Association requested that Paine respond to the allegations in the articles, including providing any documentation relevant to Paine's compliance with the Principles.³⁶ In May 2012, Paine submitted a written response to the Southern Association and provided documentation concerning Paine's financial condition.³⁷ After reviewing these submissions, the Southern Association Board of Trustees determined that the articles' allegations were significantly documented.³⁸ It concluded that Paine failed to comply with six of the Principles relating to financial stability and management, including: (1) Core Requirement 2.11.1, Financial Resources; (2) Comprehensive Standard 3.10.1, Financial Stability; (3) Comprehensive Standard 3.2.8, Qualified Administrative/Academic Officers; (4) Comprehensive Standard 3.10.3, Control of Finances; (5) Comprehensive Standard 3.10.4, Control of Sponsored Research/External Funds; and (6) Federal Requirement 4.7, Title IV Program Responsibilities.³⁹ Due to this non-compliance with the Principles, the Board of Trustees placed Paine on Warning status and appointed a Special Committee to visit the school in 2013 to reevaluate its compliance with the Principles.⁴⁰ The Southern Association also informed Paine that, pursuant to federal regulations and the Southern Association policy, it must demonstrate compliance with the Principles within four years, or face removal from membership.⁴¹

A Southern Association Special Committee visited Paine each year from 2013 to 2016.⁴² After each visit, the Special Committee drafted a report and provided Paine with a copy of the report.⁴³ Under the Southern Association procedures, Paine could correct any factual errors in the Special Committee Report, and provide written responses and documentation addressing the issues listed in the report.⁴⁴ Paine provided such a response each of these years and also submitted hundreds of pages of documentation concerning its compliance with the Principles.⁴⁵ The Special Committee Reports, Paine's responses and documentation, and staff memoranda were compiled and then submitted to the C & R Committee each year.⁴⁶ Each year the C & R Committee found that Paine failed to comply with the Principles.⁴⁷ And, each year, the Executive Council and Board of Trustees agreed with the C & R Committees and adopted their recommendations concerning the finding of noncompliance.⁴⁸ In 2013, the Board of Trustees continued Paine on Warning.⁴⁹ The Southern Association rules only allow an institution to be on Warning status for two years. In 2014 and 2015, the Board of Trustees found good cause to continue Paine on Probation.⁵⁰

However, after the Special Committee's review of Paine in 2016, the Southern Association could no longer continue Paine on Probation.⁵¹ The Southern Association rules only allow a member...