Mary Baldwin University has been placed on probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, which cited the school’s fiscal struggles in a public disclosure dated June 26.
The commission had been monitoring the school’s finances since June 2024, and reported in the June 26 disclosure that MBU had not “demonstrated compliance with all the standards of the Principles of Accreditation at the conclusion of its two-year monitoring period.”
The one “standard” cited specifically in the disclosure involves “financial responsibility.”
“This standard expects an institution to manage its financial resources and operate in a fiscally responsible manner. A Special Committee has been authorized to visit the institution,” the SACSCOC disclosure noted.
Why this matters: the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, per its website, is a recognized accrediting body for degree-granting higher education institutions in the United States.
Founded in 1895, the body oversees 750 public and private degree-granting educational institutions in the Southeast.
Its accreditation allows member institutions to award bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.
That’s why this probation thing is a biggie; lose your ability to confer accredited degrees, and you’re done.
How things got here
We’ve been reporting on the money issues at Mary Baldwin for the past couple of years.
In 2024, internal emails provided to AFP dating back to October 2023 showed the school making strategic financial decisions due to “flat revenues, increasing costs and discount rates, and ongoing cash deficits – in addition to decreased enrollment due to changing demographics and the flawed federal FAFSA process.”
The university acknowledged to AFP that it was initiating cost-cutting measures, including selling property and reducing faculty and staff positions due to the hardship.
The university ran a $3.9 million operating loss in 2024, and faced a debt load at approximately $18.8 million, with loans being secured by a deed of trust and real property.
A source shared with AFP that they feared MBU could close within five years. The source said that faculty were leaving en masse due to deep cuts in benefits and salary.
ICYMI: Mary Baldwin University struggles
- Staunton: Mary Baldwin faces significant financial challenges, including staff cuts
- Mary Baldwin University sets path for future with focus on growth, innovation
- Mary Baldwin University president resigns: Jeff Stein had been on the job just two years
- Mary Baldwin faculty voice concerns with vote of no confidence in Board of Trustees
- Changes announced at Mary Baldwin, speculation rampant on future of Staunton campus
- Mary Baldwin spokesperson: Steps to restructure for long term ‘have fallen short’
- Staunton: President of Mary Baldwin University resigns, some academic minors restored
- Mary Baldwin University names Gary Daynes as new interim president
As this was coming into focus, there was upheaval at the top rungs of the school’s administration. Pamela R. Fox, who had served as the president of the former all-women’s school for 20 years, stepped down in 2023, with Jeffrey Stein, the former vice president for strategic initiatives and partnerships at Elon University, taking the reins.
Stein would only last two years before he resigned a couple of weeks into the 2025-2026 academic year, replaced by Todd Telemeco, the school’s vice president.
Then, in January, Telemeco announced his intention to step down, citing family and personal reasons.
MBU named Gary Daynes its interim president, with the school’s Board of Trustees approving a two-year term for Daynes, earlier this month.
Daynes, who is set to take over as president on Wednesday, comes to Mary Baldwin from Salem Academy and College in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he was that school’s interim president.
Prior to Salem, Daynes served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Barton College in Wilson, N.C., from 2013 to 2021.
As co-founder of Back Porch Consulting with his wife, Kristine, he has advised more than 20 independent colleges on strategy, program design and financial sustainability.
It’s obvious, with that background, why Daynes was hired.
MBU response to the probation decision
Telemeco, in one of his last acts as MBU president, issued a comment dated June 26 acknowledging the decision by the SACSCOC to put Mary Baldwin on probation.
“The University takes pride in its progress to date and remains committed to advancing its positive financial trajectory,” Telemeco wrote. “During FY26, Mary Baldwin implemented strong controls on expenditures, reorganized operations in response to a smaller workforce, strengthened its fundraising efforts, and invested in the development of new revenue-generating programs and activities.
“We intend to continue and accelerate this work in FY27 as we focus on identifying and growing revenue streams while maintaining disciplined, prioritized planning, spending, and investment,” Telemeco wrote.
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Chris Graham
