“Although there are many benchmarks indicative of institutional quality in higher education, none is more important than a college’s reaffirmation of accreditation,” said Dr. Barbara Veazey, WKCTC president.
With more than 800 members, SACSCOC is the regional accreditation body for degree-granting higher education institutions in the South. Its membership includes institutions from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Latin America and other international sites approved by the Commission on Colleges to award associate, baccalaureate, master’s, or doctoral degrees.
Every 10 years, the SACSCOC does a major accreditation review for member institutions. Each college and university is also required to submit a Fifth-Year Interim (Reaffirmation) Report to indicate the college’s compliance with 17 SACSCOC accreditation standards. The SACSCOC reviews the report and informs the institution if there are any issues that need correcting for continued accreditation.
Dr. Renea Akin, associate vice president of learning initiatives at WKCTC, said the college’s accreditation was reaffirmed by the SACSCOC with no recommendations or reporting requirements. With the latest report, West Kentucky repeated its perfect performance in reaffirmation when its Fifth-Year Report received no referrals or follow-ups from SACSCOC, an achievement only 25% of colleges and universities undergoing fifth-year review in 2012-13 can brag about, Dr. Akin said.
“From someone who has been involved with SACSCOC review for many years, let me say that this is the first time I have heard of two consecutive SACSCOC reviews with no recommendations or reporting requirements,” Dr. Akin said. “The results reflect the hard work of all members of the college community whose everyday activities embody the college’s commitment to a culture of excellence.”
Offering more than 40 career and academic programs, WKCTC has been recognized for two consecutive years by The Aspen Institute as one of the top 10 community colleges in the nation for providing students with strong job training and continuing higher education opportunity, for achieving high completion and transfer rates, and for providing strong employment results for its graduates.