Saint Augustine’s University is shifting its focus away from developing professional certification programs, the school’s attorney, Ciara Rogers, said during a bankruptcy hearing Thursday.
Instead, Rogers said the Board of Trustees will focus on “emerging stronger.” The update comes just weeks after Rogers said those programs could launch as early as next month.
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The university announced plans to offer certification programs after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April. That was also when the school said it would end its fight to retain accreditation.
During a hearing earlier this month, bankruptcy administrator Brian Behr said he did not believe the new programs would generate enough money for the university to repay its debts.
He called the board’s decision to pause the certification programs one of several “significant positive developments.”
“The board is dealing with a lot,” Behr said during Thursday’s hearing. “The first priority needs to be exiting bankruptcy.”
He said he wants the university to emerge from bankruptcy in a better position than when it entered.
Self-Help Ventures Fund is currently lending the university money. So far, the school has borrowed more than $1 million from the fair-lending nonprofit.
Rogers said Thursday that continuing to develop the programs did not appear to be a good use of time.
“Cash flow would have been minimal,” she told the court.
WRAL Investigates counted seven alumni who attended the hearing. Steven Williams said he believes pausing the certificate programs allows the school to focus on its most pressing needs.
“It actually focuses their energy on what it needs to be focused on, and that’s actually the institution itself,” Williams told WRAL Investigates after the hearing. “We still have a lot of work to do, but I think there’s a silver lining in the cloud we’re in right now.”
Rogers also revealed Thursday that the board is working with Phillip Clay, a former chancellor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who is advising the board.
Clay is also a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumnus. His wife is a Saint Augustine’s alumna, according to Rogers.
“I think that was a great move, but I also believe there were quite a few of Saint Augustine’s alumni that, if asked, they could have volunteered,” Williams said.
Behr said he is optimistic there will be a clearer path forward within the next month or so.
“It’s unclear what the format will be,” he said.
Behr said he believes the university can eventually resume educating students. He said he does not believe a wholesale sale of the property is the ideal outcome, but that the board should keep that option “on the back burner” in case reorganization is unsuccessful.
The university also said debt owed to former students is no longer disputed. That means those claims are now recognized and repayment will be addressed as part of the school’s reorganization plan.
“It’s a long road, and hopefully, we’ll get there,” Judge David Warren said.