SALISBURY – The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges has reaffirmed Livingstone College’s accreditation through 2031.

The regional accrediting body’s board made the announcement at its June 17 meeting. To maintain accreditation, colleges have to comply with the commission’s standards

“Reaffirmation validates that Livingstone College has the resources, programs and services sufficient to accomplish and sustain our mission,” Livingstone President Jimmy Jenkins said. “We remain on task with setting clear educational objectives and successfully assessing and achieving them.”

Livingstone Vice President for Academic Affairs Kelli Randall said the college submitted its certification report more than a year in advance of the reaffirmation. The report demonstrated the institution’s judgment of the extent of its compliance with each of the accrediting body’s core requirements and standards.

The college went on to submit a second “focused report” as part of a virtual reaffirmation committee visit in October. After that visit, the college created a response report and a finalized quality enhancement plan for review.

Livingstone’s quality assurance plan is titled “Write for Life: Improving Student Writing through Writing in the Disciplines” with a focus on clarity, coherence and context.

The commission’s executive council recommended action to the full board, which made the final decision on reaccreditation.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed the landscape of higher education, and HBCUs in particular, have faced major challenges in the wake of a global pandemic,” Randall said. “Therefore, I am super excited about the fact that Livingstone College has come through a clean and flawless reaffirmation process. Livingstone College’s reaffirmation of accreditation gives the institution the green light to expand the purview of its curriculum offerings, degree programs, and formats of teaching, delivery and instruction.”

Robert McInnis, Director of Institutional Effectiveness Research, and Laverne Macon-Jamison, assistant director of Institutional Effectiveness and Research, assisted Randall on the reaffirmation process, along with the college’s senior leadership team.

“Livingstone’s reaffirmation of accreditation is the culmination of the faculty and staff who participated in preparing the compliance report, response report, and virtual on-site visit led by Dr. Kelli Randall, who demonstrated ardent leadership to the team,” Jenkins said.