It's not a defeat, but it's also not the victory FAMU administrators hoped for.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, at its annual meeting in New Orleans today, decided to extend FAMU's six-month probation for another six months.

The accrediting body’s 77-member Commission on Colleges placed FAMU on probation in June, two weeks before Ammons became president, ruling that FAMU was in violation of 10 accrediting standards.

They included those that demand financial stability, “qualified” administrators and academic leaders, control over research spending and financial aid disbursement, and the tracking of inventory. The probation came on the heels of a scathing state operational audit that found 35 problems involving millions of dollars in questionable expenses, shoddy bookkeeping and lost inventory.

Ammons quickly put together a team of administrators - many of them from North Carolina Central University, where he had been president - and crafted a lengthy “to-fix” list based on the concerns of the accrediting body and the state auditor general. The list ranged from fixing payroll problems to better controlling research expenses and the use of grants.

This became the foundation for the first 100 days of his presidency. Ammons told the Tallahassee Democrat he is disappointed in SACS' decision but proud of his staff's hard work.

Read the Times Wednesday for more coverage, and check back with Gradebook today for updates.