Contact: Allison Matthews

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State University President Mark E. Keenum has been elected chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), the top accreditation body for regional institutions of higher learning.

The action was taken Tuesday [Dec. 8] at the organization’s meeting in Houston, Texas. As chairman of the SACSCOC board, Keenum will lead the organization as it determines policy and reviews and makes decisions regarding the accreditation of member institutions awarding associate, baccalaureate, master’s or doctoral degrees.  Dr. Belle Whelan, president of SACSCOC, said, “Dr. Keenum’s hard work and commitment have helped strengthen the SACSCOC mission of ensuring that our member institutions maintain the highest education standards. He will bring strong leadership and great insight to the position of SACSCOC chairman.”

SACSCOC is the recognized regional accrediting body in the 11 U.S. Southern states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia) and in Latin America for those institutions of higher education that award associate, baccalaureate, master’s or doctoral degrees. The Commission on Colleges’ Board of Trustees is the representative body of the College Delegate Assembly and is charged with carrying out the accreditation process.

In 2011, Keenum was elected to the board of trustees, a 77-member body representing some 800 colleges and universities across the southeast. Keenum is in his seventh year as the 19th chief executive of MSU, from which he holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in agricultural economics. Prior to being named president, he was under secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

To gain or maintain accreditation with the Commission on Colleges, an institution must comply with the standards contained in the Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement and with the policies and procedures of the Commission on Colleges. The COC applies the requirements of its principles to all applicant, candidate and member institutions, regardless of type of institution (public, private for-profit, private not-for-profit).

Mississippi’s leading university, MSU is accredited by the SACSCOC to award baccalaureate, masters, specialist and doctorate degrees.

For more information about Mississippi State University, visit www.msstate.edu.