The Reclamation Project: Exploring One HBCU's Pursuit of Institutional Accreditation Through Executive and Senior Leadership Actions

Several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have experienced warnings, probations, and ultimately loss of accreditation under the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges (SACS). Eighty percent of HBCUs fall under SACS and have been cited disproportionately compared to predominately White institutions (PWIs) that fall under the same accreditor. Recently the U. S. Department of Education eliminated the geographical boundaries for regional accreditors. As a result, HBCUs can seek viable options from U. S. Department of Education-approved accreditors with rigorous standards and support toward gaining accreditation. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine executive and senior leadership actions and practices that led to the successful reclamation of accreditation through the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) when the regional accreditor lost accreditation. Future research should include a study across the seven other HBCUs that have lost accreditation. The findings of this study generated recommendations for procedural leadership execution of processes for maintaining institutional effectiveness, for achieving institutional accreditation after a loss of regional accreditation, and how the Board of Trustees' selection, evaluation, compensation, and termination of a president influence accreditation. This study encourages executive and senior leadership to seek viable options for accreditation when efforts to regional accreditation have failed