NCA Update

North Central Association
Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement
(NCA CASI)

On a brisk November day in 2002, the NCA CASI steering committee members gathered in room 238 to listen to the ‘exit interview’ given by the chair of the NCA CASI external review team. They were nervous. They were anxious. They were relieved that the site visit was over. The room grew quiet. The room grew cold. It began.

One half hour later, the applause and cheering could be heard throughout the building. The commendations were many; the citations were none. The only recommendation was to ‘carry on’. Miss Emily was proud!

Emily Griffith Opportunity School has, indeed, carried on. The school continued to work on the six items in which growth was needed as determined by the self-study of 2002. From 2004 through 2006, goal committees worked on four school-wide goals. In 2006-07, two additional goals were the main focus: recruitment, completion, placement and communication.

Now it is time to begin preparing for our next NCA CASI self-study and site visit in March 2009. A steering committee has been convened. The following individuals have agreed to serve on this important committee:

Katie Collins, Katina Cordova, John Gibbons, Scott Hedblom, Tim Inzano, Tallie Jones, Marilyn LaRocca, Bob Marshall, Chris McGuire, Brenda Stevens, Sharron Carosella, Donna House, JoAn Keeler and Karen Fletcher.

JoAn Keeler and Karen Fletcher are serving as co-chairs of the committee and Donna House has volunteered to act as the external chair.

A major part of the self study involves developing a set of goals focused on areas for improvement. In order to do that, the steering committee has developed surveys for all individuals affiliated with EGOS – students, staff, instructors, administrators and the community. We will begin distributing them this week. We plan to have links to the staff, instructor and administrator surveys in the Staff Update tomorrow. The community surveys are also electronic and will be distributed by the department deans. Student surveys are paper and will be completed in all day, evening and Saturday classes.

Your participation is important so please complete your survey this week. The results will be compiled by March 19, the next steering committee meeting. From that will come the student achievement related goals for the self-study.

During the next year, you will be asked to participate on many levels. Watch for future information in the NCA Update on our webpage. Thank you.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Karen Fletcher and JoAn Keeler