On Thursday, June 17, 2021, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges voted to place historically Black Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens on “probation for good cause.” At that time, Jaffus Hardrick, president of Florida Memorial University, explained that “the issues that led to this action occurred over numerous years of dealing with financial challenges, declining enrollment, and aging infrastructure. Unfortunately, COVID–19 impacted enrollment for academic year 2020, thus affecting overall revenue. As a result of our growth strategies, FMU is well on its way to resolving these issues. New enrollment initiatives, new academic programs, a focus on student life, enhanced infrastructure, the addition of new athletic programs, band, and certificate programs are already yielding positive results to stabilize and grow enrollment.”
In November 2021, the university announced that it was discontinuing 18 low enrollment, underperforming degree programs, which resulted in the elimination of 15 faculty positions. In addition, salaries of those administrators making $60,000 or more were reduced by 10 percent. The administration implemented a hiring freeze in non–critical areas, reduced university–wide travel, and cut department budgets by up to 30 percent.
Recently, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges Site Review Committee visited the Florida Memorial University campus. The Site Review Committee’s preliminary recommendation is to remove the university from probation. The SACSCOC Site Review Committee rendered no additional recommendations are necessary and concluded that FMU has met and satisfied all standards. This June, the SACSCOC board of trustees will render a final decision based on the Site Review Committee’s recommendations.
