Stubblefield Honored During SACSCOC Annual Meeting

Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs R. Jay Stubblefield, PhD, was presented with the Demetria N. Gibbs Outstanding Chair Award at the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) 2023 Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida, in December 2023.

The Demetria N. Gibbs Outstanding Chair Award is given annually to a review committee chair who has demonstrated exceptional leadership in working with committee members. The award was established in 2013 in memory of Demetria Gibbs, a significant member of the association’s leadership team.

Stubblefield has served on and chaired multiple SACSCOC off-site and on-site reaffirmation committees, substantive change committees and recently completed a term of service on the Commission’s Peer Review advisory board. Serving as an institutional accreditation liaison, he led successful reaffirmation of accreditation efforts at two institutions.

“I am humbled and grateful to have received this award, which is even more meaningful since it is named for Ms. Gibbs,” Stubblefield said. “As anyone who worked with her would attest, Demetria was an outstanding individual who was always ready and willing to help. I am thankful to many remarkable committee members with whom I have served over the years, and to the SACSCOC Vice Presidents who provided these opportunities.”

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) is the body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states. It serves as the common denominator of shared values and practices primarily among the diverse institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Latin America and certain other international sites approved by the SACSCOC Board of Trustees that award associate, baccalaureate, master’s, or doctoral degrees. The Commission also accepts applications for membership from domestic institutions in the other 39 states, as well as international institutions of higher education around the world.

Lincoln Memorial University is a values-based learning community dedicated to providing educational experiences in the liberal arts and professional studies. The main campus is located in Harrogate, Tennessee. For more information about the undergraduate and graduate programs available at LMU, contact the Office of Admissions at 423-869-6280 or email at admissions@LMUnet.edu.