MIDDLETOWN—Orange County Community College (OCCC) is trying to make amends after it removed accreditation for its radiologic technology program this May, affecting an unknown number of students without telling them.
The accreditation by the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT) was removed a little over a year early by former president Bill Richards for reasons unknown.
The accreditation was non-essential, said current OCCC President Kristine Young at a county Education and Economic Development Committee meeting in November.
“It was a voluntary accreditation in the sense that it was a value-add, a mark of distinction,” said Young in a recording of the meeting provided by the county. “Students do not need this accreditation absolutely to get a job.”
It was lack of transparency and communication with the students that was problematic.
It was clear from the Nov. 16 meeting that the decision was made by former president Bill Richards at the advice of the department chair, and the college Board of Trustees was not informed. Young confirmed it would be the president’s job to bring a decision like this before the Board for them to vote on.
Rationale
There was no justification given for the withdrawal of the accreditation when it was brought up in the November meeting, and the committee decided to discuss it in executive session.
County legislator Jeff Berkman (D-Middletown) said after executive session that, “it was a department chair’s decision, that this was not a worthwhile endeavor to keep the accreditation going, and the president evidently complied with that decision.”
According to minutes of committee meeting for September, which Young attended, she said, “The decision was made very much with the focus on local employers close to Orange County and the clinical sites with that experience.”
A representative for the college declined to comment pending a lawsuit.
