SOUTH EASTON — The Southeastern Technical Institute (STI) has recently qualified for re-accreditation following an in-depth evaluation and on-site visit from the Council on Occupational Education (COE).
Accreditation is official recognition that a school maintains educational standards well so that other accredited schools will recognize the educational credentials of students and faculty alike.
STI is Southeastern’s post-secondary vocational program for adults seeking industry-specific training. The curriculum correlates with state, national and industry standards. Southeastern serves the City of Brockton and the towns of East Bridgewater, Easton, Foxborough, Norton, Mansfield, Sharon, Stoughton and West Bridgewater.
From Oct. 24-26, 2022, STI welcomed a team from the COE, which specializes in assuring quality and integrity in career and technical education, for a comprehensive evaluation. The team concluded that the STI has met all of the standards and criteria of the Commission to earn re-accreditation.
Accreditation directly impacts students, as STI’s ability to offer Federal Financial Aid is reliant on its accreditation.
More than a year of planning went into the accreditation process. The STI team discussed internally how to meet standards, identified needed improvements and performed a self-analysis of policies and procedures to ensure they aligned with best practices. The COE review and subsequent accreditation decision encompassed all of STI’s 10 educational programs.
The visiting COE team met with and interviewed students, staff, district administration and partners of the Institute. The team also toured the building to evaluate its overall safety and equipment.
STI alumni from the nursing and cosmetology programs were also contacted to provide information about their current jobs and to verify their licensure. This allowed COE to see how the Institute meets benchmarks for post-graduate job placement and licensure.
STI has been accredited since 2011 and this was its third COE site visit. In December 2022, the COE voted to re-accredit STI for the next six years.
“This accreditation speaks not only to the standards to which we hold ourselves, but to the dedication and success of the students who attend and graduate from our programs,” STI Director Pat Illsley said. “We are thrilled with the COE’s accreditation decision and thank them for their attentive review of our programs.”
More information about STI can be found here.
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