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The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (HEPC) voted yesterday to grant Alderson Broaddus University provisional authorization on the condition that it demonstrates sound financial footing throughout the next academic year.
The HEPC had originally scheduled the vote in late June, along with votes on other institutions in the state, but delayed it as members considered whether the university’s dismal finances justified a refusal to authorize its ongoing operation.
The century-old private Baptist college in Philippi, W.Va., has been on the precipice of financial collapse in recent years. Enrollment at the tuition-dependent institution has dropped to 500 undergraduates and 170 graduate students after a “steady and progressive decline,” according to HEPC vice chancellor for academic affairs Corley Dennison, who added that enrollment statistics, along with financial reports, have been inaccurately and inconsistently reported.
“In some instances, student numbers were overly optimistic and in other cases, revenue forecasts did not match the enrollment data,” he told Metro News.
To maintain its authorization, Alderson Broaddus will have to meet several benchmarks, the first of which, due Oct. 1, is to submit a formal plan for student transfers in the case of closure. It will also be required to submit monthly financial reports to the commission and cooperate with site visits from HEPC chancellor Sarah Armstrong Tucker or a delegate from her office.
Before the commission’s executive committee voted, Alderson Broaddus’s new board of trustees chair, James Garvin, reportedly made a final plea: “I would beg you to give us a chance.”
The commission seems to have done so, but Dennison said he worried that in the absence of accurate financial information, the university may be in dire straits.
“The worst-case scenario is a midsemester shutdown, or [the university] runs out of money before the conclusion of final exams,” he said. “This leaves students with virtually no option.”
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