The Poplar Bluff Technical Career Center has received reaffirmation of accreditation, ensuring complete compliance with government standards so that qualifying adult students can continue to receive federal loans, grants and financial aid.
“Reaffirmation denotes that an institution has maintained quality programs, again undergone an extensive self-study and team review process, and has continued to meet the commission’s standards and conditions for accreditation,” wrote Gary Puckett, executive director of the accrediting agency, on Tuesday, Jan. 10. “The members of the Council on Occupational Education extend to you, your faculty and your staff its congratulations on having maintained the status of a COE-accredited occupational education institution.”
The TCC was granted the maximum of six years of reaccreditation, effective last month, until its next review in 2028, provided annual benchmarks proceed to be met. The staff began compiling the self-study and institutional response reports one year ago to prepare to host the multi-state review team on site in September.
According to TCC Director Charles Kinsey, his office did a “fantastic job” fulfilling its goal of working with the visiting team of volunteers as efficiently as possible. He joked how the staff did not know what to do with itself after no longer having to multitask for days on end but, he said, it is now back to establishing “new inroads.”
A single suggestion for improvement was included in the findings, which was to store agendas and minutes from occupational advisory committee meetings separately, rather than relying on the combined file to post. The matter identified was rectified within weeks of the exit report, noted Kinsey, who reiterated that the purpose of engaging in the process is to “find inefficiencies and fix them; this way students can expect uniformity among accredited institutions across the country.”
Kinsey explained how there has nearly been complete turnover in his building since the last successful review in 2016 in the institution’s long-standing tradition of upholding full accreditation. Maintaining the requisite records has only gotten easier with all supporting documentation having since been digitized, he continued.
“We’ve been constantly in a state of improvement for the last six years, making sure we’re meeting guidelines in a way that benefits students and the learning environment,” Kinsey stated. “It’s kind of a built-in process to ensure the center is offering the best quality programs to our community.”
Compliance under the U.S. Department of Education includes achieving a program completion rate of at least 60 percent, a student placement rate in related industry or continued education of 70 percent and a licensure pass rate of 70 percent in the case a license is required following graduation. During the reporting period of July 2020 through June 2021, which Kinsey pointed out was during the height of the public health crisis, the TCC maintained a 100 percent placement and licensure exam pass rate, and an 85 percent graduation rate.
The TCC, located at 3203 Oak Grove Road, offers programs in auto collision, automotive technology, barbering, building trades, computer graphics and print technology, computer maintenance and repair, computer science, cosmetology, culinary arts, esthetician, health occupations, HVAC-R and welding. For more information, call 573-785-2248.
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Cutline: A certificate of accreditation with the official seal of approval of the Council on Occupational Education is displayed in the front office of the Poplar Bluff Technical Career Center.