Five Towns College Put on Probation

Update:
Five Towns College has been put on probation, though its accreditation remains intact, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education said Monday.

"This is a very serious step," the commission said. 

Thursday's decision to impose probation means the private college has until March to address the organization's concerns.

Jerry Cohen, dean of enrollment, said, "We're taking it it all very very seriously. We didn't meet two standards.  We're addressing this and they'll be corrected; We are preparing documentation now. It's nothing to do with learning standards. We did not think this was going to happen. We're very every disappointed but we're going to take care of it."

The commission said, in general terms, that it
"places an institution on probation when, in the Commission’s judgment, the institution is not in compliance with one or more Commission accreditation standards and that the non-compliance is sufficiently serious, extensive, or acute that it raises concern about one or more of the following:

• The adequacy of the education provided by the institution
• The institution’s capacity to make appropriate improvements in a timely fashion
• The institution’s capacity to sustain itself in the long term.

"Probation is often, but need not always be, preceded by an action of warning or postponement," the commission said, though not specifically about Five Towns.

One year ago, the commission voted to seek a monitoring report on the following:

• Clarification of roles and responsibilities in collegial governance
• Clarification of the lines of organization and authority
• Steps taken to improve the faculty handbook. 

A monitoring team visited the school and then a followup team received third-party comments, looked at some of the allegations made about the college, and then issued another report, which led to Thursday's vote.

Programs such as federal aid to students are unaffected by the decision.

Five Towns College was founded in 1972 and has about 1,000 students enrolled this year. Adam Levine of Maroon 5, named  sexiest man alive by People magazine last week, is one of the college's more prominent former students.