Dive Brief:
- Paine College President George Bradley resigned Tuesday, giving the time-honored reason for departing: spending more time with his family.
- Bradley leaves the Augusta, GA, historically black college on probation with its accreditor due to financial mismanagement — the last step before accreditation is revoked, the Augusta Chronicle reported.
- The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges put Paine on probation in June after giving it a “warning” sanction in 2012 and 2013.
Dive Insight:
Among Paine’s litany of problems, according to the Augusta newspaper: The college failed to return unused federal financial aid after students withdrew in its 2010 and 2011 fiscal years, the school lacked personnel with knowledge about financial management, it lost nearly $300,000 in the fiscal year ended June 30, it maxed out a nearly $4 million line of credit, and it didn’t have proper internal controls over financial operations. On the plus side, the college has had some recent successful renovations and a new $8.4 million health education complex. Under Bradley, the percentage of professors with doctoral degrees doubled to 80% from 40%, and 60% of graduating seniors conduct research in their fields. Paine’s acting president will be Samuel Sullivan, provost and vice president of academic affairs.