LOS ANGELES, Calif.–The commission that accredits Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science has allowed it to emerge from probation, the school announced today.
A statement said the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, one of six regional accrediting commissions for four-year colleges and universities and graduate schools, “based its decision on 24 months of scrutiny” during which it examined the university’s governance, financial, academic, and quality control systems.
“This is the new Drew,” said Dr. M. Roy Wilson, the university’s board chairman since last September. “As our momentum builds, we continue to produce outstanding graduates and provide strong academics. I hope people will judge us not on the past, but from this day forward.”
The school said the accrediting body allowed Drew’s probationary status to lapse based on a series of improvements, including completing a strategic plan for growth, receiving $10 million in funding from the University of California, opening a new $43 million nursing school, and creating a new governing and advisory board.
The private, nonprofit medical and health sciences university, which serves predominately Black and Latino students, was created after the Watts riots in 1965 and is located in the Watts-Willowbrook area.
The accrediting commission placed the institution on probation in July 2009, citing problems with its systems of educational assessment and quality control, but allowed it to keep its accreditation during the review.
