When University of the Arts officials announced a sudden closure to a shocked campus on May 31, their statement followed an earlier public notice from their accreditor mentioning the university's pending closure, albeit in dense bureaucratese.
In effect, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education made public the news that the Philadelphia-based UArts would shutter before the university did. Because of the pending closure, and violations of the agency’s requirements, MSCHE said in the same notice that it was pulling UArts' accreditation.
When UArts Board Chair Judson Aaron and President Kerry Walk — whose resignation was announced Tuesday — published a statement later the same day, they said “the Middle States Commission on Higher Education elected to withdraw UArts’ accreditation and announce it before we could communicate with you.”
They added, “We know that this makes hearing the news of UArts’ abrupt closure even worse.”
In a statement Wednesday, MSCHE sought to correct the record. According to the accreditor, MSCHE President Heather Perfetti asked Walk to immediately notify campus stakeholders of the university’s pending closure — before the accreditor’s notice came out.
MSCHE’s Perfetti “reminded [Walk] that any action by the Commission would be public on May 31, 2024,” the commission said.
In a June 3 correction to Walk and Aaron's post, officials deleted the parts that said MSCHE took action before the university could share the news with the campus.
In its statement, the accreditor said that UArts notified it on May 29 of plans to close because of a cash flow issue, which came before the decision to pull the private nonprofit university’s accreditation.
MSCHE then asked UArts for details on how and when the institution became aware of the cash flow problem, financial details evidencing the problem, proof the college could cover payroll, drafts of public releases about the state of the university, and documentation that it had notified state and federal education regulators of its status.
MSCHE gave UArts a deadline of 12 p.m. on May 30 to provide the required information. MSCHE said the university missed the deadline, and the information it did get was “insufficient.”
In seeking to correct the record, MSCHE also said its accreditation withdrawal did not cause UArts’ closure, as it said some media have reported.
The university’s sudden closure has sparked protests and a class action lawsuit alleging UArts violated federal law by not providing sufficient notice to employees about job losses.
UArts now is working with a consulting firm to develop a teach-out plan, according to a statement from Aaron on Tuesday. It’s also in talks with one of its transfer partners, the public Temple University, with a merger reportedly on the table.
UArts must submit to MSCHE a “comprehensive, implementable teach-out plan” with signed agreements from teach-out partners by June 7, according to the accreditor.
“Our Commission does and can help institutions close well and with integrity; however, we cannot do it with a day’s or week’s notice,” Perfetti said in a statement. “It is critical that institutions and any attorneys and consultants working with them understand the expectations of this Commission. This is terribly frustrating for everyone involved but especially our students.”
