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8/16/02
Life University trims budget by $4 million
Student exodus prompts cuts; layoffs certain
Mary Macdonald - Staff
Friday, August 16, 2002
The exodus of students from Life University has prompted its interim president to cut another $4 million from the budget, an amount that will require another 30 layoffs.
The university also expects to sell six properties, including administrative and storage buildings, undeveloped land and probably the public clinic in north Marietta, said interim President Michael Schmidt.
His announcement Thursday in a student assembly came three weeks after his decision to kill the $2 million athletics program, which eliminated 18 positions. The university has about 500 employees.
The university has struggled to regain its financial and academic footing since June, when it lost accreditation of the chiropractic program.
Accreditation continues while an appeal is pending before the Council on Chiropractic Education. That decision is expected sometime in the next few months.
Schmidt urged students Thursday to remain optimistic. "We're still going," he said. "Keep the faith."
But the uncertainty at Life has unnerved many students. The chiropractic program had 2,600 students in May. It now has 1,800 and Schmidt said that number could drop another 10 to 30 percent in September.
If the university cannot regain accreditation, students cannot sit for national board exams that are required for a license to practice. If the university loses the appeal, it will immediately apply to re-establish its accreditation.
That start-up process could take between six months and two years, Schmidt said.
Despite this, some students said they remain confident. If the university becomes a smaller place, so be it, said Karen Bowden, a chiropractic student from the Saskatchewan province of Canada. "In order for the changes to be made, there has to be cuts. I understand that," she said. "Even if we do have to pare down, it will still be an exceptional school."
Altogether, Schmidt said he expects to cut $6 million from the university's $38 million operating budget, to counter the loss of tuition from students who have left the beleaguered chiropractic program. The sale of the properties could generate $6 million, which would be put in reserve, he said.
So far, the cuts have not come in academics. And the university has made plans to offer more courses in some areas, including physiotherapy, to meet accreditation concerns.
But some part-time and full-time faculty may begin to lose their jobs within weeks, depending on how many students return for fall quarter in September, he said. Placement services will be provided for those employees. Schmidt spoke to faculty and staff about that prospect last week. "People seem to be understanding what's happening," he said. "They know the cuts are coming."
[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 6/11/02 ]
Life University loses chiropractic accreditation
By MARY MACDONALD and DOUG PAYNE
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writers
The chiropractic program at Life University in Marietta has lost its accreditation, which means future graduates would not be able to take licensing exams to become practicing chiropractors.
The university, the largest producer of chiropractors in the nation, plans to appeal and accreditation will continue until that process is finished.
But the Council on Chiropractic Education, which announced the revocation Monday, is the only chiropratic accrediting agency in the country and has the final say on an appeal.
Without accreditation, the university cannot expect to attract students, because the graduates will not be able to practice, said Mark Cotney, a Thomaston chiropractor who is chairman of the Georgia Board of Chiropractic Examiners.
"This is very serious," Cotney said. "It's unfortunate for the students at Life, but the line has been drawn in the sand as to what the chiropractor is supposed to be able to do."
Cotney said schools need to teach their students that sometimes the practice of chiropractics isn't the cure-all and that a medical doctor should be seen.
Life University has about 2,600 students in its chiropractic program and about 700 students who attend the school for other degrees.
Paul Walker, executive director of the Council on Chiropractic Education, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., would not cite the specific deficiencies. But the problems include diagnostic instruction -- how students are taught to determine if a patient can be treated through chiropractic care or should be referred to a medical doctor -- and faculty oversight of students in the university's clinics.
In a short statement, a Life University administrator assured students Monday that their financial aid, student loans and academic status are not affected by the council's action.
"Life University will take any and all legal actions necessary to protect its accredited status, students, faculty and staff," said Mamie Ware, vice president for academic affairs.
Founder and president Sid Williams did not respond to an interview request Monday.
Although some students took a wait-and-see attitude after word trickled out, others were clearly upset.
"We just moved here from Philadelphia, and we don't want to move again," said Barbara Quinn, whose husband, Paul, is a student at Life.
"We're being kept a little in the dark," Paul Quinn said. "We need to know how serious this is."
Dawn Hazzard, who moved to Atlanta from New Jersey with her family of five to attend the university, said students were not being provided enough information to make an informed decision.
"I have a whole family," she said. "I have a house to sell. Do I have tens of thousands of dollars in loans that I can't pay back? Is the school responsible for helping with that?"
Hazzard said she had supported her husband while he pursued his master's degree, and now he's supporting her while she goes to Life.
"I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up," she said. "Now I know. I want to help people. I want to be a chiropractor. Now I know what I want to be, and this is making it hard."
The accreditation revocation came a year after the national council first placed Life's program on probation. The council extended the probation for another six months after a follow-up review.
Life University officials traveled to Arizona on Friday to make a personal appeal to retain its accreditation. At the time, university leaders felt confident it would be restored.
Continued accreditation is considered to be vital to the university. Only graduates of accredited chiropractic programs can take the national board exams, which are required for a chiropractor to obtain a license to practice, said the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards.
The revocation stunned many chiropractors and graduates who had been following the accreditation drama. This is the first time the chiropractic council has revoked a school's accreditation.
The Georgia Board of Chiropractic Examiners issued a statement supporting the council's decision. "The days of the chiropractor as a 'fringe' provider are over," Cotney wrote. "Chiropractors must be trained to understand the role their unique skills offer their patients, and must also understand the limitations of those skills."
This is not the only accreditation issue faced by the Marietta university.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, responsible for oversight of all of Life's programs, also has critically reviewed Life's operations. The association in January issued a public sanction that chastised Life after an examination of its financial stability, management and faculty preparation. The university has six months to respond.
Life University is recognized as a champion of the "straight" chiropractic approach, which espouses a philosophy that the body has an inherent ability to heal itself once spinal interferences are corrected.
Williams, a former Georgia Tech football star, opened the school in 1974 with 22 students in rented space near Dobbins Air Reserve Base. The college achieved university status, growing to include more than 4,000 students and expanding its programs to include undergraduate degrees in related disciplines.
Enrollment has declined since a peak in 1995, but Life's chiropractic program continues to enroll almost twice as many students as its best-known competitor, Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa.
Officials at Palmer will meet soon to discuss how to respond to the situation at Life, including how to handle transfer requests.
At Life, some students said Monday they would follow the university's appeal closely.
"The important thing now is to be aware of what's going on and keep an open mind," said Leighann Jardine, 24, a second-year student from Grand Rapids, Mich. By that, she said, she means her fellow students should be "open to the possibility of a transfer, but not believing everything they hear."
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