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From: Robert M. SmithTo: "margaret Perry"Subject: RE: Southern Association of Colleges & Schools Accreditation NoticeDate: Friday, December 11, 2015 10:55:00 PM

Margaret and Randy,I saw your response to Andy’s note. I’m sitting here the night before Commencement responding toangry and confused (more of the latter than the former) students and parents. This is a nightmare. At this point we are really guessing what happened. The announcement of SACS decision was made tous orally in about a three minute discussion. We received no specifics. I discovered the actual chargesin an Inside Higher Education story SACS shared with them but information they did not share with us. We chose to notify all our students within 24 hours of the decision being orally provided to us. We didthat to counter wrongly interpreted news stories as well as take the responsibility to let our studentsknow what happened in spite of the fact we still have nothing in writing nor any explanation from theSACS as to the reason for their decision. The history here is that we were in the process of our review in 2013 when newer standards came intoeffect (does this bring feelings of déjà vu?). No one would argue that we did not fare well in thatreview and a monitoring report was required for five of the ninety-two standards including substandards. The institution passed on 87. Four of those five remaining were all related to the samegeneral issue, student assessment. All of those were deemed deficient because of a lack of historicaldata. The conundrum is that you can't have historical data if you just established the standard. It takestime. The decision announced this week (more about that later) appears to have given us credit for ourprogress but still declaring we have not demonstrated the application of the assessment process. When I saw the report we were submitting in September on which this decision was based, I wasstunned. I worried something might be wrong but people kept telling me we were doing fine. Our ownreport told me we were in trouble. Stephanie Kolitsch and I rewrote as much as we could in the 24hours before it was due but I knew we were headed down a bad path. I called President Joe and alerted him that I thought the report was inadequate and we could be introuble when the Council met (a prophecy that proved true). Regardless of the anticipated decision, Iramped up workshops on assessment. One of our faculty discovered an amazing consultant. We spenttwo two-day workshops with different faculty groups and have made progress that is not evident in anyreport to date. We have another workshop planned for January. I have also assembled a team ofexperts to assist us once we know exactly what we are missing. We are engaged. Nevertheless, we havefaculty who are still in complete denial of their responsibilities in this process. That is not onlyfrustrating, it is what holds us back. I am deeply disappointed by the manner in which the SACS decision was announced without telling usmuch of anything as to how they made the decision. We are taking steps to defend ourselves and putthis ugly declaration behind us. While I’ve got your attention: Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year. We can still say thosethings at UTM.Bob..

From: margaret Perry [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, December 11, 2015 9:46 PMTo: Andrew WilsonCc: Bettye Moore; Bill Blankenship; Brad D. Biggs ([email protected]); [email protected];[email protected]; Jennifer Childress Hampton; [email protected]; Joe Exum([email protected]); [email protected]; Cathy Dunagan; [email protected];[email protected]; Robert M. Smith; Sam Bondurant ([email protected])Subject: Re: Southern Association of Colleges & Schools Accreditation Notice Thanks, Andy. I appreciate your notifying us of this. Margaret

On Dec 11, 2015, at 4:24 PM, Andrew Wilson <[email protected]> wrote: Board members,I want to make you aware of information we received yesterday regarding ouraccreditation. The email below shares what Interim Chancellor Bob Smith sent to thestudents yesterday afternoon. While we are awaiting the official letter from SACSCOC on the details, we have alreadystarted working toward the assessment goals. I have full confidence in our leadership inaddressing the areas of concern. We will continue to keep you informed as we go throughthis process. We will overcome this hurdle quickly and effectively.Andy Andy WilsonVice Chancellor The University of Tennessee at MartinUT Advancement – Martin Office

From: Office of the Chancellor Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2015 12:05 PMTo: Enrolled StudentsSubject: Southern Association of Colleges & Schools Accreditation Notice <chancellor_email_header.jpg>

UTM Students,The University of Tennessee at Martin has received oral notice of the decision by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges(SACSCOC) that the university is placed on probation for the next 12 monthspending corrective actions they wish us to address. We have not received anyofficial letter with specifics, but we did read in a press announcement that they havecited us “for falling short of standards related to evidence of institutionaleffectiveness and general education competencies.” In the educational world thismeans that we have not completed the work we have been doing on assessment oflearning. This is an issue that first emerged two years ago. Since my arrival, we have beenworking diligently to resolve it, and we have made significant progress in the last

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