Elizabethtown Community and Technical College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. Since the college opened in 1964 it has gone through the ten-year Reaffirmation of Accreditation process six times - four times as Elizabethtown Community College, and twice as Elizabethtown Community and Technical College.
The ECTC Archives contains materials pertaining to the 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000 reaffirmation reviews. It also contains a copy of the Compliance Certification (Self-Study) for 2008.
Key documents for the reviews include; the initial proposal; the Self-Study Report; the Reaffirmation Report; the responses made by the institution to recommendations made by the Visiting Committee. Materials also include meeting minutes for the Self-Study Steering Committee and the various subcommittees; draft reports submitted by the subcommittees; communications with the SACSCOC Visiting Committee; communications with the campus regarding the Committee's visit; materials used as documentation for and within the Self-Study report; materials used as displayed documentation for the Committee's visit.
The Accreditation Review materials are valuable because they provide the most thorough and in-depth look at the college during the 10-year periods between each review. Every reaffirmation required that the accrediting agency scrutinize every aspect of the college and its ability to provide the services promised. A researcher wishing to gain in-depth knowledge of a college would be wise to begin with the Self-Studies and other accreditation documents.
The process began with a document that was referred to as the Self-Study Report, prepared by the institution. (The document is now referred to as the Compliance Certification and is prepared using an online template.) It covered the institution's mission, educational programs, all aspects regarding student admission; student codes of conduct; student enrollment; student characteristics; student support services such as libraries and tutoring labs; all aspects of faculty employment, policies, and activities; distance learning, continuing education, financial resources and management; administrative functions, activities and policies; advisory boards/boards of directors; institutional advancement; grants; outreach to alumni; physical resources, maintenance, safety; computing networks and equipment, community activities, and more. Student and non-student surveys were conducted, and data was gathered from each of the departments, divisions and entities.
When the accreditation teams came for the ten-year visit it viewed the facilities and activities; conducted interviews with personnel; and reviewed a large quantity of supporting documents. In the following months it prepared the Reaffirmation Report in which it indicated whether or not the institution was successful in its bid for reaffirmation of accreditation. The report also included recommendations and suggestions for areas of concern. The institution was then expected to prepare a report in which it explained how it planned to address those areas of concern. In many cases new departments, policies and procedures, positions and initiatives arose from the SACS recommendations.
Applicable terms: self-study; SACS; SACSCOC; evaluation; accreditation; reaffirmation; review
BOX 1
(current Label: SACS 002.02. 1967-68. Self-Studies. Temporary Label: 1970 Accreditation. Box 1)
BOX 2
Box 1
(002.02. 1979-1980. To be merged with SACS)
Original arrangement
Folder. ECC 110. Self-Study. 1980. Of [Don] Wallace
Folder. ECC 110. Don Wallace. [Folder 2]
Folder. ECC 110. Don Wallace. [Folder 3]
Folder. ECC 110. [Folder4]
Folder. ECC 110. Self Study Maurice Utley.
Folder 6 (new)
Folder 7 (new)
Folder 8 (new)
Box 2
Folder. ECC 110. Self Study. Denis Morrow. [1]
Folder. Self Study Minutes and Other Communications. [2]
Box 3
The following are in unnumbered folders:
BOX 1
(current Label: SACS 004.00; Self-studies. Box 3. Temporary Label: 1990 Self Study/SACS. Permanent label will be Accreditation 1990 Box 1. All self-studies and SACS boxes, currently in different parts of the collection, will be merged under Accreditation.
Folder 1
Folder 2
Folder 3. Organizational materials
Folder 4
Folder 5
Folder 6
Self-Study Proposal. Reaffirmation of Accreditation Project. September 1989. Multiple copies. Typed. PRIORITY
Folder 7
BOX 2
Currently labeled 002.02. 1989-90. Self Studies. Temporary Label. Self-Study 1990. Permanent Label: Accreditation 1990 Box 2
Folder 1
Folder 1a
Folder 2
Folder 3
Folder 4
Folder 5
Not in folders
BOX 1
Currently labeled SACS 001.01-001.05. Reports. Temporary Label: Accreditation 2000. Box 1
1. Bound report. Stage 1. Pursuit of single accreditation and consolidation. ECC PRIORITY
2. KCTCS Affirmative Action Plan. PRIORITY
3. SACS. Institutional Profile. October 1, 1989. Report. PRIORITY
4. Reaffirmation Report by SACS. 1990. HIGH PRIORITY
5. Response to Recommendations in Reaffirmation Report. Memos, report. 1991-1992. HIGH PRIORITY
6. (Labeled Folder 5 cont.) Response to Recommendations in Reaffirmation Report. Memos, reports. Contains 1980 reaffirmation report; 1986 response report; letters and memos
7. Bound report. A Report Prepared for Visiting Committees of the Commission on Colleges. SACS. Spring 2001. VALUABLE. Contains information about the affirmation of KCTCS, recommendations, the process of UK-phaseout and KCTCS phase-in. System Office should have a copy but this should be retained. HIGH PRIORITY
Bound Self-Study 2000
BOX 2
Currently labeled SACS 001.00. Reports (manuals, guides, VHS and cassette tapes.) Temporary Label: Accreditation 2000. Box 2.
• 1998 Criteria for Accreditation. The name “Thompson” is written on the cover in ink
• 1998-1999 Rules of the Senate of the University of Kentucky Community College System. Revised July 1998. Bound. The label on the upper right of the cover, “Document 9” means that this item was laid on a table in the Student Center as supporting evidence
• ECC. Institutional Effectiveness Manual. SACS 200 [sic] written in pencil on label.
• Stage 1. Pursuit of Single Accreditation and Consolidation. Elizabethtown Community College. Elizabethtown Technical College. June 2002. This is not technically part of the 2000 Accreditation; it may be moved elsewhere eventually. This merger would result in a substantive change accreditation process. Bound. VERY HIGH PRIORITY
• KCTCS Personnel Manual. Bound. Label on upper right of cover; Document 7. Table exhibit/evidence
• Report Prepared for Visiting Committees of the COCSACS. KCTCS. Thirteen Community Colleges of the KCTCS. Summer 1999. Draft. Document 19 [exhibit/evidence] Bound. Duplicate elsewhere. Priority
• Community College Faculty Evaluation Process. Draft. Bound. Document 20 [exhibit/evidence]
• Self-Study. First Draft
• ADDED: Surveys 1999.
• ADDED: Student Surveys. Responses to student surveys conducted 1996-97; responses to exit questionnaire 1996; responses to student surveys 1997.
EXHIBIT BOX 0
EXHIBIT BOX 1
Folders containing syllabi for web courses
EXHIBIT BOX 2
Folder numbers that are missing: folder missing; documents missing within folder; statements that documents are on table
EXHIBIT BOX 3