EICCD - quality - Quality of Programs

CAMPUS FOCUS

When you enroll in classes at one of eastern Iowa’s community colleges, you can rest assured that you are entering a quality program.

IRPE Logo The Eastern Iowa Community College District (EICCD) was the first college in the state of Iowa to receive the Iowa Recognition for Performance Excellence IRPE award. Not only was it the first, it was also the second, receiving the honor in both 2003 and 2004.

The award, presented by the Iowa Quality Center, recognizes organizations that complete a rigorous evaluation of leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, information analysis, human resources, process management and business results. Examiners use the same criteria as is used for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, recognized as the pinnacle of achievement for American companies participating in Total Quality Management programs.

Not all applicants receive the award; in fact, the Iowa Quality Center conferred only eight awards in the first four years of the program. The other seven awards were all presented to business and industry.

In addition, EICCD is one of only a handful of higher education institutions selected to participate in the Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP), an alternative accreditation process conducted by the Higher Learning Commission. AQIP institutions engage in continuous evaluation rather than the normal 10-year cycle of evaluation. The district is a founding member of the Continuous Quality Improvement Network, a consortium of community colleges focused on quality efforts.

Students have seen the benefits of the EICCD quality efforts. Among the significant achievements have been student licensure and certification test pass rates that exceed state and national rates; a graduate placement rate of 98.5 percent; and increasingly competitive GPAs among students who transfer to Iowa Regents universities.

Accreditation

EICCD is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. HLC accreditation means our programs meet or exceed the standards for academic excellence set for every public and private college in the 19-state North Central region. The colleges are approved by the Iowa Department of Education and the Board of Regents. Individual programs are accredited by associations within their respective fields.