A month after a deadline misstep cost N.C. Central University School of Business its accreditation and its dean, the University’s administration is expecting to get reaccreditation sooner than originally thought.

According to Chancellor James H. Ammons, it’s expected to take less than a year for the School to renew its accreditation instead of the 12-18 months they had anticipated.

The School, which lost its accreditation from the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs when former dean Benjamin Newhouse failed to apply for reaccreditation on time, has already started the process of renewing accreditation.

Some students were shocked when they got letters from the University during the Christmas break notifying them about the loss of accreditation.

“My initial reaction was that my degree in business was not going to be as acceptable as other business degrees at other colleges,” said Audrey Long, a senior who got the letter Dec. 23.

But Ammons is optimistic about a speedy reaccreditation.

He said the School became a candidate for accreditation in seven days, a process that usually takes three months.

He also said the director of the accreditation agency has been assigned to mentor interim dean Bijoy Sahoo.

Sahoo is currently working on the self-study that is expected to be ready for submission to ACBSP by March.

Once the self-study is submitted, it will be evaluated by the agency, then a committee will visit the School of Business before preparing its recommendations.

“We are hoping to have a site visit this spring,” said Ammons.

According to Steve Parscale, director for ACBSP, the self-study is 95 percent complete.

“I would say that the average school takes 18-months to three years [to get accredited] but since NCCU was previously accredited they will be able to regain their accreditation much sooner than that,” said Parscale.

At a Jan. 10 meeting in the B.N. Duke Auditorium, Ammons, Jones and Sahoo answered students’ and parents’ questions, with an energetic and soft-spoken Sahoo vowing to save the University from embarrassment.

“We didn’t lose our accreditation, we allowed it to expire,” Sahoo said. “We make a commitment today that we will regain accreditation with ACBSP.”

The School of Business officially lost their accreditation on Dec. 15 when Newhouse failed to submit the necessary papers with ACBSP — papers that he had already been given a year’s extension to submit.

In a University news release, Newhouse said in his defense that leadership in the School of Business was busy working toward another accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate and Schools of Business International and thus did not respond to the ACBSP requests for information.

In a ferocious response to the misstep, the University swiftly replaced Newhouse with Assistant Provost Sahoo on an interim basis.

Newhouse, who could not be reached for comment, was given eight months of administrative leave. He will return as a tenured professor in the business school while the University searches for a new dean.

The University hopes to have a permanent dean by June.

With 16 years of experience as dean of the College of Business at Tuskegee Institute, Newhouse became the dean of the School in September 2004.

He replaced H. James Williams, who reluctantly and controversially left after claiming that former provost Lucy Reuben had failed to offer him a new contract in a timely manner.

The School of Business accreditation fiasco has served as a wake-up call to the Ammons administration which has taken steps to avoid similar accreditation problems in the future.

Ammons has asked the provost to work with the deans of every accredited program to develop a master calendar showing important renewal deadlines.

“Protocol, and how we govern in terms of the University, is critical,” Jones said.

In the past, letters concerning accreditation went to the dean of each accredited department.

Now they will go straight to the chancellor and the provost.

“I can assure you that we will not have this happen again,” said Ammons.

Despite the loss of accreditation, Miss School of Business Kristen Hunter was upbeat and optimistic that it would not affect students in their job hunts.

“For the most part, I would say that persons should educate themselves before getting upset,” Hunter said.

“The School of Business did not receive discipline-specific accreditation until 1994, so from 1910 until 1994, thousands of people graduated and were successful.

“What students should focus on is making the most of their degree and capitalizing on opportunities to enhance their professional development,” Hunter said.

Ammons also believes that the accreditation issue will not hinder students.

“I really believe that if a student from NCCU’s School of Business goes to an interview and shows their skill, then that will carry them,” Ammons said.

The administration plans to keep students, parents and faculty informed by sending them a monthly update on the accreditation status.