December 2018

From the President             

It's hard to believe that this is the last issue of the CAAHEP Communique of 2018. The last few months have flown by in a whirl of activity, and I am sure that they have also been busy for you. Halloween came and went, clocks were turned back an hour, midterm elections and runoffs are over, and we celebrated another Thanksgiving Day. As December is upon us, we now focus our attention on the preparations for the upcoming holidays and meeting the end of year work demands. For those of us in the academic world, December brings the long awaited semester break so enjoy the time away from campus and enjoy the company of your family and friends. For our colleagues who are obligated to work between the holidays, I hope that your workload decreases enough whereby you can relax a little more during the work day and not feel so rushed to complete all of the assignments before the end of the work day.

The holidays are a good time to say a special thank you to our family, coworkers, colleagues and friends for their support, encouragement and hard work throughout the year. Let me be one of the first to acknowledge and thank you for all that you have done for your professions, CoAs, and CAAHEP. As previous CAAHEP Presidents have stated, our wonderful organization could not function without the countless volunteers who give of their time and talents to make this a better world by maintaining the high quality of work done through the CAAHEP organization. My appreciation also extends to the Board of Directors, Kathy, our executive director, and the entire CAAHEP staff. Together we make a great team.

As we come to the end of the year and assess our goals and accomplishments, I believe that CAAHEP continues to improve its efficiency and services. Within the first month of 2019, CAAHEP will have a new strategic plan to ensure that we continue to meet our vision, which is to be the gold standard for programmatic accreditation of allied health. It is going to be another busy but good year for all of us in the CAAHEP family.

On behalf of the CAAHEP Board of Directors and staff, I wish every one of you a very happy, healthy, and safe New Year. Enjoy the holidays with your family and friends.

 

Gregory Ferenchak, Ed.D., R.T.(R)(QM)

President

In the wake of the recent closure of Education Corporation of America's institutions, numerous community colleges with CAAHEP-accredited programs have hastened to help the students who were left without a program.

According to the article "Stepping up to help, again," in the December 7, 2018, Community College Daily , "Within hours of the announcement, a growing number of community colleges began to reach out to students at those schools.  Midlands Technical College  (MTC) in South Carolina is inviting former Virginia College students to a College Night enrollment event on December 19, where students can learn about its more than 120 academic and career programs and about financial aid options. The college is waiving its $35 application fee for these students.

“MTC’s health sciences, business and public services, HVAC and industrial programs, as well as corporate and continuing education programs, are all a perfect fit for the displaced Virginia College students,” MTC said on its website."

Midlands Technical College , in Columbia, South Carolina, has CAAHEP accredited programs in Medical Assisting and Surgical Technology.

In addition, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, in Gulfport, which has CAAHEP accredited programs in EMS-Paramedic, Medical Assisting, and Surgical Technology, " will hold an outreach session for Virginia College students on December 13, as will Tennessee’s  Volunteer State Community College  (Vol State). The sessions will include discussions about financial aid and transferring credits.  Chattanooga State Community College  will offer a similar session on December 10." The CAAHEP accredited programs at Volunteer State Community College include Diagnostic Medical Sonography, EMS-Paramedic, and Polysomnographic Technology. Chattanooga State Community College has Diagnostic Medical Sonography, EMS-Paramedic, Medical Assisting, and Surgical Technology CAAHEP accredited programs.

The article quotes Chad Jaynes, manager of technical training at Chattanooga State, "Such information sessions are critical to these students, who are experiencing the trauma associated with their school closing without warning. We want to create a sense of welcome and give students any help they need to continue and/or complete their education,” Jaynes said."

And, this is not the first time that community colleges have stepped up to help in similar situations. Volunteer State Community College, among others, "offered to help students after the for-profit Corinthians College closed in 2015 and ITT Tech in 2016," according to CCDaily. Still, it’s not an easy task. For example, credit transfers are a challenge, in part, because of [institutional] accreditation differences between for-profits and public and private not-for-profit colleges and universities, Vol State officials noted.

CAAHEP proudly recognizes these programs, and any other institutions, for their efforts in helping these displaced students.

To see the full article, please visit the CCDaily website.

Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs

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