21
The Valley 2017
l
What’s
SACSCOC
and what does it mean for
you and TVCC’s future?
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on
Colleges (SACSCOC) is the regional accrediting body for the Southeast
U.S. Its fundamental purposes are educational quality assurance and
improvement in the effectiveness of its member institutions that are
contained in the Principles of Accreditation. The accreditation process is
an important part of TVCC’s mission because it allows our courses to transfer to other colleges and our students to receive federal
funding such as grants and financial aid, so it’s a BIG DEAL for TVCC to adhere to the principles.
Administrators, faculty, and other key staff members worked over the last three years to write the Compliance Certification
(CC) demonstrating the College’s judgment of compliance with each of the Core Requirements, Comprehensive Standards, and
Federal Regulations. The CC was submitted electronically last February to the off-site reaffirmation committee consisting of
peer reviewers outside of Texas who are selected by the SACSCOC vice president assigned to TVCC. The Board of Trustees and
administration were very pleased with the preliminary findings of the compliance certification and a focused report.
Another key component to the accreditation process, was
the development of a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) that
describes a carefully designed and focused course of action that
addresses a well-defined topic or issue(s) related to enhancing
student learning and/or the environment that supports
learning (see “What’s a QEP?”).
The QEP was led by faculty since the focus is on student
learning. TVCC’s Quality Enhancement Plan, “Pathway
to Progress” is being led by Dr. Maribeth McAnally, QEP
Director/Business and Computer Science instructor. The
written report of the committee helps the institution improve
its programs, refine its QEP, and also provides the basis on
which the Commission decides to grant, continue, reaffirm, or
withdraw accreditation.
The Compliance Certification Focused Report and the Quality
Enhancement Plan were mailed to the on-site committee in
September 2016 allowing them time to review it before they
visited TVCC in October, 2016.
During the three-day visit, the committee members visited
campuses in Terrell and Palestine and also toured Terrell,
Canton, Elkhart, and Palestine Independent School Districts
to review the dual credit high school programs. They also
examined data, conducted interviews with faculty and staff
in order to evaluate the soundness of the QEP and ascertain
whether the institution is in compliance with the Principles of
Accreditation.
- Tina Rummel, Director of Strategic Planning,
Effectiveness and Accreditation, SACSCOC Liaison
