Accreditation

The Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs gave Orange Coast College’s cardiovascular technology program a 10-year accreditation. Darryl Isaac, director of OCC’s program, said most programs receive five-year terms and the 10-year term is an achievement. According to the committee, OCC’s program exceeded established standards, which led to the recommendation. Isaac has been teaching cardiovascular technology programs since 1979.

In their latest step to bring the school into line with accrediting standards, Vanguard University officials have appointed a new permanent president, the first woman to have the job in the school’s nearly 90-year history. The university’s Board of Trustees appointed interim-President Carol Taylor on Friday as the university’s official president. In that role she will be the face of the university come June when it faces possible sanctions on its accreditation.

OCC is making significant changes this fall in hopes of preserving its accreditation. Since June, OCC has been operating under a warning from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, part of the Western Assn. of Schools and Colleges — the group that makes sure local colleges are up to widely accepted standards. After a routine audit in 2007 and a follow-up review in the spring, the commission gave a few recommendations that must be followed if the school is to remove the warning and avoid a process that could ultimately strip the college of its accreditation.

A Newport Beach preschool is among a small number of preschools in the country to earn accreditation by the National Assn. for the Education of Young Children. Newport Coast Child Development Preschool, which serves 300 children ages 2 1/2 to 5, now displays a torch symbol signifying that it was recently granted the prestigious accreditation. As of October, only 7% of preschool programs nationwide have earned the honor of displaying that symbol, said the school's director, Sara Guggenheim Kummerfeldt.

Orange Coast College’s Polysomnographic Technology program has had its accreditation extended three years. The program, which is the state’s only such accredited program, trains students in the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders like sleep apnea, narcolepsy and insomnia. There are only 25 such programs in the United States. An October state Senate bill requires that these practitioners to be certified. It was reaccredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education, which examined students’ board exam results and employment success rather than putting the program though a full self-study and site visit.

Vanguard University received three more months to get its act together before the Western Assn. of Schools and Colleges will take any action regarding the college’s accreditation, school officials said. In a prepared statement, university President Carol Taylor notified students of the organization’s decision to grant an extension after meeting with them Feb. 18. The university’s leadership has been shaken up in recent months, with the interim-President Wayne Kraiss and board of trustees Chairman T. Ray Rachels both stepping down.

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian’s Cancer Center has been honored by the American College of Surgeons, as the college’s Commission on Cancer provided the center with its CoC Outstanding Achievement Award and granted it a new three-year accreditation. The Commission on Cancer, founded in 2004, visits facilities every three years and rates them on leadership, management, clinical services, community outreach and other factors. Only 67 programs nationwide won the Outstanding Achievement Award this year.

Building bridges with local industries and earning prestigious accreditations for Woodbury University's School of Business are just some of the things on Andre van Niekerk's agenda. Van Niekerk, who has extensive background in business and education, was hired over the summer as dean of the School of Business after three years away from working at a college. "I realized going into three years of semi-retirement that I missed the academic environment," van Niekerk said.

For Steve Virgen's blog, click here. Craig Bluell calls his new gig as Vanguard University swim coach, “a wonderful opportunity,” which is the same mentality for administrative leaders who are banking on two new sports teams for some help, as the school continues to find ways to maintain its accreditation. Athletic Director Bob Wilson, in his 14th year at Vanguard, had his proposal of two new sports teams, men’s and women’s swimming, passed by Vanguard’s Board of Trustees.

Young Chang Vanguard University of Southern California is a baby. Accredited as a "university" just two years ago, the 80-year old institution lived several lives before arriving in Costa Mesa in 1950. In 1920, a man named Harold Needham was one of the players in founding the school as a Bible school, said Pam Crenshaw, a longtime staff member at Vanguard's development department. The campus, called the Southern California Bible School, opened in Los Angeles at the same time the University of California at Los Angeles began.

The American Bar Assn. approved UC Irvine School of Law's provisional accreditation, officials said Tuesday. The law school, which opened in August 2009, joins five other universities with provisional accreditation from the ABA, according to a news release. "The ABA Council of the Section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar said the Law School … fulfills the criteria necessary for provisional accreditation," according to the release. Provisional accreditation means the school's graduates can take the bar exam without first taking a qualifying exam.

Mesa Consolidated Water District’s (Mesa) Board of Directors is proud to announce that Mesa has received the District of Distinction Award (Award) from the Special District Leadership Foundation.   This is the second time Mesa has received the award. In 2007 Mesa became the fourth special district to receive this notable recognition. The Award is one of the most prestigious in local government in the state of California. This accreditation validates Mesa’s commitment to good governance and to ethical and sound operating practices.

Orange Coast College’s Polysomnographic Technology program has had its accreditation extended three years. The program, which is the state’s only such accredited program, trains students in the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders like sleep apnea, narcolepsy and insomnia. There are only 25 such programs in the United States. An October state Senate bill requires that these practitioners to be certified. It was reaccredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education, which examined students’ board exam results and employment success rather than putting the program though a full self-study and site visit.

A lot can change in 100 years — just ask the employees at West Coast University. When the Costa Mesa-based university first opened its doors in 1909, it was an ophthalmology school. When World War II efforts peaked in the 1940s, the university shifted its focus to aviation. Twenty years later, the university produced astronautics experts to help send the first man to the moon. Although few could envision the vast changes that the next century would bring, West Coast University adapted to the unique challenges of each new decade.

A lot can change in 100 years — just ask the employees at West Coast University. When the Costa Mesa-based university first opened its doors in 1909, it was an ophthalmology school. When World War II efforts peaked in the 1940s, the university shifted its focus to aviation. Twenty years later, the university produced astronautics experts to help send the first man to the moon. Although few could envision the vast changes that the next century would bring, West Coast University adapted to the unique challenges of each new decade.

Just a month away from their graduation, three dozen of UCI’s first nursing school graduates just learned their program is now nationally accredited, university officials announced Tuesday. The Program in Nursing Science now has an accredited bachelor’s of science program thanks to the Commission of Collegiate Nursing Education, the commission assigned to ensure quality and integrity in university nursing education programs, officials said. UCI’s nursing science program was established in 2005 in the university’s College of Health Sciences and has 160 students.

Vanguard University?s budding nursing program has been accredited for the next five years, school officials announced Monday. The program, which offers registered nurses and students who have completed their general education requirements a chance to earn their bachelor?s degree in nursing, will begin its latest classes May 14. The program was approved by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, a neutral accrediting agency approved by the U.S. Department of Education.

For Steve Virgen's blog, click here. Craig Bluell calls his new gig as Vanguard University swim coach, “a wonderful opportunity,” which is the same mentality for administrative leaders who are banking on two new sports teams for some help, as the school continues to find ways to maintain its accreditation. Athletic Director Bob Wilson, in his 14th year at Vanguard, had his proposal of two new sports teams, men’s and women’s swimming, passed by Vanguard’s Board of Trustees.

In their latest step to bring the school into line with accrediting standards, Vanguard University officials have appointed a new permanent president, the first woman to have the job in the school’s nearly 90-year history. The university’s Board of Trustees appointed interim-President Carol Taylor on Friday as the university’s official president. In that role she will be the face of the university come June when it faces possible sanctions on its accreditation.

The University of California, Irvine Extension today announces the receipt of accreditation from the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA) for its 10-Week Intensive Program in English as a Second Language. CEA is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education as a national accrediting agency for English language programs and institutions. The university’s English & Certificates for Internationals (ECI) intensive English program is the first such University of California program to be awarded this honor.