Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary “is now in full compliance with all accreditation expectations” of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) following action by the SACSCOC board on June 11, President David S. Dockery announced in a letter Thursday (June 11) to the seminary community.
RELATED: See story on Dockery’s report at the SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando. See more stories from the annual meeting.
The action comes after an April site visit to the seminary resulted in a recommendation to remove the sanctions, which were initially put in place in June 2023 with a “warning” status.
‘No longer on probation’
“Southwestern Seminary is no longer on probation for good cause but is in full adherence with SACSCOC accreditation standards,” Dockery said. “We are genuinely grateful to God to receive this good and encouraging report that all sanctions have been removed, which is an answer to the prayers of many.”
The seminary “made concerted efforts” to follow the “wise guidance” of SACSCOC to restore its accreditation, Dockery said. He pointed to a pattern of overspending in operational and capital budgets in 2022, as well as further back to 2019.
“The seminary has, however, chosen not to look back, but to move forward with a renewed commitment to institutional stewardship,” he said.
Dockery cited six “markers of institutional stability and health,” affirmed by SACSCOC to demonstrate the seminary’s progress:
— institutional culture embracing of its mission, identity, heritage, and core values;
— improvements in enrollment, credit hours taught, and increases in tuition revenue;
— decreased expenses and increased unrestricted revenue resulting a $10 million turnaround;
— improvement of $40 million in net assets;
— cash reserves and cash equivalents reaching 50 percent of the annual budget;
— and dramatic improvements in the institution’s Composite Financial Index, Composite Score Ratio, and bank covenant ratios, objective measures compiled by outside organizations.
Full story.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written and published by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
