Peachtree – It’s official; the regional jewel known as Tri-County Community College is no longer hidden in plain sight.
That’s because the college’s president, Dr. Donna Tipton-Rogers, announced Thursday to the Tri-County Community College Board of Trustees that on Sept. 3, the Southern Association of Colleges & Schools Commission on Colleges officially granted reaccreditation status to the college. Even better, she added that Tri-County earned the best possible outcome, with the rare honor of receiving zero recommendations from the accrediting body.
“Our official reaffirmation status with no recommendations told us what we already know: Tri-County Community College is a special institution, with wonderful employees focused on our students and surrounding communities,” Tipton-Rogers said. “I am immensely proud of our dedicated faculty and staff, who strove tirelessly to showcase the exemplary work we do every day.”
So was the board of trustees, which quickly voted to send an official letter of congratulations and commendation to the faculty and staff.
“That’s amazing,” said Larry Kernea, who was unanimously reappointed chairman of the board at the start of Thursday’s meeting. “Every person who works here deserves to be included in this. Some of these wins were years in the making.”
The peer-reviewed reaffirmation process incorporates the same 87 compliance standards used to evaluate all colleges and universities in 11 Southern states, ranging from Texas to Virginia. The process includes an extensive off-site document review as well as an additional on-site visit of representatives from peer institutions outside of North Carolina. The on-site committee visited Tri-County in October 2019 and left impressed.
Tipton-Rogers said by earning and maintaining accreditation, the college can award transferable credits, disperse federal funds for financial aid and receive state funding. The status is absolutely essential for the overall operation.
Dr. Steve Wood, the college’s vice president for instruction and institutional effectiveness, has been actively involved in the accreditation reaffirmation process since the 1990 review. In his more than 30 years at Tri-County, Wood said he has seen a remarkable transformation and improvement when comparing the reviews of 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020.
“This has never happened in our history,” he said. “We’ve always had recommendations.”
Wood continued about the significance of the 2020 reaffirmation decision.
“The rarity isn’t just no recommendations or follow up; we didn’t have anything to clarify or answer after the visiting committee left last October. Normally, there is stuff we, and everyone else, send in after the on-site visit before the SACSCOC board makes its final decision,” he said.
“The fact is, the committee found our college totally compliant not only in our written policies and procedures but also with our facilities and resources, which was confirmed by their personal interactions with faculty, staff and students.”
Wood added another critical component of the reaffirmation process is the requirement for all colleges and universities to develop a Quality Enhancement Plan, which SACSCOC considers “an integral component of the reaffirmation of accreditation process.” The plan reflects and affirms a commitment to enhance overall institutional quality and effectiveness by focusing on an issue the institution considers important to improving student learning outcomes and/or student success.
“The visiting committee considered our QEP ready to go,” Wood said. “This meant we had the plan, the people, the resources and the assessments all set to their satisfaction, which is a huge affirmation.”
Tipton-Rogers said the excellent review should bode well for local students who are considering the quality of higher education across the region.
“As we move forward, we must maintain this high bar of excellence, and we promise the citizens in Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties that Tri-County Community College will not rest on its laurels, but will continue to be creative and proactive in fulfillment of its mission to engage students in learning, help students succeed and enrich the communities we serve,” she said.
Tri-County Community College received its initial SACSCOC status in January 1975. This year, it was the only college in North Carolina to receive no recommendations during the accreditation process.