Through New England Association of Schools and Colleges

By: Michael P. Redington

 

The Hartford Area Career and Technology Center (HACTC) received notification of its continued full accreditation through the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) on November 10, 2009. This notification validated the work of the HACTC staff in its self-study that began in the spring of 2006 and culminated with the April 14-17 on-site 2009 NEASC visiting committee evaluation.

 

The two plus years self-study process provided the HACTC the opportunity to take a serious objective review of itself relative to the rigorous NEASC standards of membership. That self-study engaged staff, sending school academic teachers, parents, former and current students, and community members including business and industry representatives. That self-study began in the spring of 2006 and ended in the late fall of 2008.

 

The following information is quoted directly from the NEASC report:

“These are just some of the commendations noted by the 16 member visiting committee:

The commission referred to many other commendations in the evaluation report during its deliberations. It found a healthy school on the verge of excellence, with faculty, administrative staff and students working well together to the benefit of students”. We believe the visiting committee’s observations validated and confirmed how we view our school as a staff.

 

Now that the report has been written and presented, we will spend the next two years preparing a written report that addresses any recommendations that the visiting committee suggested. We will then have a mini-evaluation conducted by NEASC in the spring of 2014 that looks at what was written in the two year report and validate what has been accomplished relative to all recommendations that were made. We are confident that we will successfully address all recommendations that will make us even better than we currently are when the next full evaluation takes place in 2019.

 

It is fair to say that the entire staff took this process very seriously beginning with the self-study, the basis for the 10 year accreditation process. Without an eye toward continuous improvement, we would not have received the positive report validating what we as a center have taken great pride in developing over years past. To say we were pleased by what the visiting committee observed and reported during its short time with us, is an understatement. The end result simply reports what we believe which is we do an outstanding job with the resources provided to educate ourselves and our students in a manner that keeps us all competitive in today’s ever-changing workforce.