Move-in to Saint Augustine begins before delayed start of fall semester

On Tuesday, students at Saint Augustine’s University began campus days ahead of the delayed start of the fall semester.

Classes were originally scheduled to begin on Aug. 19, but earlier this month Saint Augustine interim president Marcus Burgess said the university needed more time to perform maintenance on dorms and classrooms, so the first day of school was pushed back two weeks to Sept. 3.

In early August, employees told WRAL News they would be paid again. Previously, Saint Augustine teachers and staff were still owed money from March.

Burgess said Saint Augustine is working to secure funding to pay past-due refunds to students and staff salaries from last semester.

“The payments have started,” Burgess said. “The good news is we are catching up.”

Burgess spoke to reporters Tuesday as students arrived on campus. It was the first time WRAL News had heard from Saint Augustine’s administration since mid-July, when the school learned it could keep its accreditation.

He discussed the number of students currently enrolled for this semester.

“It looks like we’ll have about 200 students this year,” Burgess said. “Probably about 100 of them will be on campus. We’ll have enough staff to get the job done.”

As of Aug. 15, the North Carolina Department of Labor had received 29 complaints against Saint Augustine’s University since September 2023, including three complaints filed this month. WRAL Investigates confirmed that the U.S. Department of Labor is still investigating the university.

“Our goal is to keep it going. We don’t want what happened last semester to happen again,” Burgess said. “As the head of this institution and as a member of the board of trustees, it’s my job to work behind the scenes to make sure this problem never happens again.”

WRAL’s coverage of Saint Augustine’s University dates back to January, when Saint Augustine appealed the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) decision to deny the university accreditation, and even earlier. See a timeline of events.

In July, after months of investigations, meetings and court proceedings, an arbitration panel appointed by SACSCOC ruled that Saint Augustine’s University could keep its accreditation. However, Burgess said there is more work to be done because the university is still on probation.