It's Official: A-B Tech Accreditation Reaffirmed by SACS
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools announced Dec. 7 that A-B Tech has received reaffirmation of its accreditation for the next 10 years.
SACS' Commission on Colleges (COC) made the announcement at its annual meeting in Atlanta. The COC is the recognized regional accrediting body in the 11 Southern states and Latin America for institutions of higher education that award associate, baccalaureate, master's or doctoral degrees.
"This is a great day for our College," said A-B Tech President K. Ray Bailey, who attended the SACS meeting in Atlanta. President Bailey said the final report the College submitted to SACS was accepted with no additional follow-up required.
Accreditation by an agency such as SACS is significant because it determines whether students' coursework is accepted by four-year institutions and potential employers.
"Accreditation assures our students and our community about the quality of A-B Tech," President Bailey said. "Not only does it indicate our compliance with SACS requirements, it means we are effectively fulfilling our mission of being dedicated to student success."
President Bailey attributed A-B Tech's reaffirmation to the continuous efforts of the college's faculty and staff, Board of Trustees, Foundation Board of Directors, and community supporters to create an environment that helps students achieve their educational goals. He expressed appreciation to SACS Liaison Carol Rovello, the Leadership Team, Quality Enhancement Team Leader Deborah Lonon and the Quality Enhancement Team for their work during the reaffirmation process.
Colleges seeking reaffirmation must demonstrate their compliance with the SACS requirements and develop a Quality Enhancement Plan that addresses an issue related to enhancing student learning. A-B Tech chose "Educational and Career Advisement" as the topic of its plan, identifying ways to ensure that information provided to current and prospective students is accurate, timely, easily accessible, and delivered "invitationally" so they can make sounds decisions about their education.
For its work with Invitational Education during the reaffirmation process, A-B Tech became the only college in the country, and one of just 21 schools worldwide, to be selected as a "2004 Inviting School" by the International Alliance for Invitational Education (IAIE), an organization comprised of 1,200 members representing 12 countries.
A-B Tech's Invitational Education initiatives have included the opening of a Transfer Advising Center that helps the increasing number of transfer students make a successful transition to four-year colleges and universities, and the creation of a one-stop approach to registration that allow students to meet with advisors, select classes and register, all in one place.
Other activities have included the addition of a second commencement ceremony to the calendar each year to accommodate the growing number of graduates, and the creation of a Campus Environmental Advisement Committee to consider issues such as recycling, campus beautification, and energy conservation.
A-B Tech Receives Golden LEAF Grant for Biotech Lab
A-B Tech has been chosen by the Golden LEAF Foundation Board of Directors to receive a grant of $150,000 to help renovate and equip the biotechnology laboratory at its Enka Campus.
The award is one of 13 totaling $1.13 million that were approved by Golden LEAF Dec. 2 as part of a second round of grants for the North Carolina Community College System's biotechnology initiative, BioNetwork. The grants will be used to develop curriculum and short-term courses for the biotech industry and to purchase equipment for community colleges statewide that teach for the industry. A survey by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center shows the state's biotech industry is growing by 2,000 new jobs a year that require training at the community college level.
A-B Tech's grant will help create a state-of-the-art laboratory essential for its new two-year Biotechnology degree program, as well as the short-term continuing education course, BioWork, which trains entry-level process technicians for the biomanufacturing industry. The space designated for the Biotechnology/BioWork lab formerly served as a textile lab for BASF Corp and was donated to the College in 2000.
"The laboratory renovations and new equipment will provide a facility for students to learn biotechnology concepts from product development through upstream and downstream bioprocessing," said Biotechnology Department Chairperson Toby Mapes.
Renovations will include the addition of laboratory benches, casework, and seating for the main teaching lab, the tissue culture room, and the prep room. The primary equipment will include liquid chromatography and high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipment and tissue culture equipment to be used in both curriculum and continuing education courses. Liquid chromatography is a technique used to separate compounds such as plant pigments, and HPLC uses pressure pumps to produce a higher flow rate.
The lab enhancement grant is the second biotech-related grant A-B Tech has received from Golden LEAF. The first, for $320,000, was awarded last year to create a "BioBusiness Center" at the college's Enka Campus that will provide entrepreneurial skills development, incubation support services, and accelerated coursework in the business and production conditions required to work with biotech companies. The center is one of six across the state that are part of the North Carolina Community College System's BioNetwork initiative to prepare a world-class biotech workforce.
President Bailey Receives Honorary Doctorate
Mars Hill College Board of Trustees Chairman Troy Day, left, and MHC President Dr. Dan Lunsford, right, present A-B Tech President K. Ray Bailey with his doctoral hood at Mars Hill College's commencement Dec. 17. In presenting the Doctor of Humane Letters degree to Bailey, Dr. Lunsford praised Bailey's numerous years of service to A-B Tech. Dr. Lunsford noted that Bailey's efforts have improved the opportunity for and quality of education not only for A-B Tech, but also for all of Western North Carolina.