Accreditation

The Nursing Assistant and Practical Nursing programs are approved by the Colorado State Board of Nursing. The ADN Registered Nursing Program is approved by the Colorado State Board of Nursing and accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc. (ACEN), 3390 Peachtree Rd. NE, Ste 1400 Atlanta, GA 30326.  Phone:  404-975-5000.

The Medical Laboratory Technician program is accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS) Board of Directors.

The Otero Law Enforcement Training Academy follows the Peace Officers Standards and Training guidelines. POST certification testing is scheduled at the end of each law enforcement academy. During each academy, Otero instructors administer various levels of certification and testing based on current POST guidelines.

History of Accreditation

Otero College has undergone North Central Association accreditation reviews in 1962, 1967, 1975, 1985 and 1997. Each time the result has been favorable and accreditation status was granted. In the Spring of 2007, a team of four accreditation reviewers from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), a commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, spent three days at Otero College touring the campus, meeting with faculty and staff, advisory board members, and community members. They reviewed documentation from the college’s Self-study Executive Summary and analyzed all aspects of the Otero College’s 2007 Self-study and mission in order to make a recommendation to the HLC for continued accreditation of the college.

Accreditation Recommendations and Comments

At an exit interview held on April 4, 2008 Dr. William Tammone, team chair, recommended a 10-year accreditation for Otero College. During the exit interview Dr. Tammone was highly complementary of the college citing over 50 strengths found during the visit.

There were four areas identified where improvement was needed. Areas identified were:

• The need to develop strong assessments for student learning to help guide planning, budgeting, and contiguous improvement.
• Make progress toward collecting and analyzing data on clear objectives and direct measures of student learning along with indirect measures of general education.
• Availability and utilization of professional development funds to enhance assessment efforts.
• Measure the effectiveness of general education.

Otero’s Assessment Focus

The ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning involves making expectations explicit and public; setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality; systematically gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and standards; and using the resulting information to document, explain, and improve performance. When it is embedded effectively within larger institutional systems, assessment can help us focus our collective attention, examine our assumptions, and create a shared academic culture dedicated to assuring and improving the quality of higher education.

— (Angelo, T. A. (1995). Reassessing (and defining) assessment. The AAHE Bulletin, 48 (2), 7-9).