THE FOLLOWING IS A DANVILLE AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGE RELEASE
(ABOVE) Students Taylor Koch and Damylia Stuckey with Clinical Coordinator Madison Harrison
DANVILLE – DACC Radiologic Technology program just received great news from the national accrediting body, JRCERT. The DACC program that prepares students for careers as X-ray technologists has received the highest honors allowed, an eight-year accreditation extension.
This marks the culmination of a long process that began with writing and submitting a self-study report that was due July 2022 and preparing for the JRCERT visiting team of Karen Moorman and Hortencia Gonzalez that arrived on campus Apr. 20. Ms. Moorman is a retired rad-tech instructor from Maryland’s Prince George’s Community College. Ms. Gonzalez is a rad-tech professor/program director at Texas’s Loredo College.
Students Halee Sloan, Taylor Koch, and Damylia Stuckey with Director Tammy Howard
Says Medical Imaging Director Tammy Howard, “As peer practitioners in the field of community-college rad-tech programs, Ms. Moorman and Ms. Gonzalez have impressive credentials and they knew exactly what to investigate when they arrived at DACC.”
The visiting team interviewed everyone from faculty to students to our local healthcare providers who hire our students after they graduate. Says Ms. Howard, “As impressed as our peer reviewers were with the DACC program, (DACC’s Clinical Coordinator) Madison Harrison and I were equally impressed with them. We deeply appreciated the quality and the substance of their review. The self-study and accreditation process was absolutely beneficial for us, as well it should be.”
Director Tamara Howard and Clinical Coordinator Madison Harrison
The accreditors reviewed the DACC program based on national “Standards for an Accredited Educational Program in Radiography.” As JRCERT chair Dr. Tracy Herrmann noted, “DACC has achieved the maximum award of accreditation based on the College having been in compliance with all relevant standards. I congratulate (Ms. Howard) and the program faculty for their high-quality program.”
DACC’s Provost Dr. Carl Bridges was also effusive in praising DACC’s radiologic technology staff. “The visiting team left no stone unturned,” he says. “Thanks primarily to the hard work of Tammy Howard and Madison Harrison, what (the reviewers) consistently found was a well-managed program that supports student success and addresses local employers’ needs with highly skilled graduates. I commend our people for this achievement.”
But the Rad Tech faculty won’t be resting for long on their laurels. Although the next accreditation visit will take place in 2031, DACC will be required to submit an interim report only four years from now, during the second quarter of 2027. As Dr. Manny Rodriguez, DACC’s new dean says, “When I see all of the great work going on in DACC’s rad-tech program, I’m going to do whatever I can to support the efforts of Ms. Howard and the staff to keep up their great work so that the program continues to receive accolades.”
The Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT) is the only agency recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDE) and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) for the accreditation of traditional and distance delivery educational programs in radiography, radiation therapy, magnetic resonance, and medical dosimetry.
Danville Area Community College is a comprehensive community college serving Illinois District 507, which consists of Vermilion County and parts of Champaign, Iroquois, Edgar, and Ford counties. DACC’s main campus is located at 2000 East Main Street, Danville. The College has a higher-learning center in Hoopeston at 847 E. Orange. To apply to DACC, call 217-443-3222 or visit the Web site at www.DACC.EDU.
