The Academic Challenge at East Central College will be rescheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 12, due to weather concerns.

ECC is anticipating more than 175 high school students from the area for the regional Academic Challenge. The event had been planned for Wednesday Feb. 5 but the date was changed due to the possibility of winter weather.

Students from Union, Washington, St. Francis Borgia Regional High School, St. Clair, Sullivan, Warrenton, Linn, Houston, Hallsville and Chamois will participate.

The Academic Challenge is a competition designed to challenge the best and brightest high school students, and involves a battery of tests in seven subject areas: math, biology, chemistry, physics, English, computer science and engineering graphics.

The tests are taken individually and prizes are awarded for top individual scores in each subject area and for top team scores.

Linda Arrington, Academic Advisor/Instructional for engineering at East Central College, noted that the tests are written by university faculty and are designed to present a challenge to the brightest students.

“The material is drawn from senior high school and freshman level college curriculum so as to present a bridge between secondary and higher education,” she said.

The Academic Challenge is in Missouri with about 40 to 50 high schools participating, but over 6,000 students from 400 high schools in Illinois participate in the annual event. This is the 21^st year ECC has hosted the regional challenge. In addition to the tests the students will take part in a trivia competition in the theater and be treated to dinner prior to the evening awards ceremony.

The Challenge is divided into large and small school categories, with the top team and individual winners from the competition at ECC advancing to the sectional competition held at Missouri S&T in March.

For information about the Academic Challenge at ECC, call 636-584-6677. General information about Academic Challenge can be found at: https://castle.eiu.edu/academic_challenge/Start1.php.

The East Central College, Union, Medical Assisting Certificate program accreditation recently was continued after a peer review that recognized it for substantial compliance with national standards.

The Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) Board of Directors approved the re-accreditation Jan. 16. The program is evaluated through CAAHEP and the Medical Assisting Education Review Board (MAERB).

“As always, we are striving to do our best and continue improving the program for the best interest of our students and to prepare them for an exciting medical assisting career,” said Adisa Velic, program director.

Velic added that there is significant demand locally in the medical assisting field and many ECC students have been employed in the community through externship as well as immediately after completing the program.

“This program has been a great success for us and re-accreditation is just a cherry on the cake,” she said.

According to Nancy J. Mitchell, MSN, RN, interim director of nursing and dean of health science, re-accreditation was accomplished through the hard work of the faculty and staff, along with community partnerships.

“Faculty and staff have worked diligently to provide the best quality programming and comply with nationally-normed standards to educate future certified medical assistants,” she said.

“We are appreciative of our local clinical partners as well,” Mitchell noted. “Without their continued partnership and collaboration, we would not be able to provide high-quality clinical experiences for our students. The re-accreditation status proves ECC’s commitment to continuous quality improvement.”

The next comprehensive evaluation of the program, including an onsite review, is scheduled to occur by the fall of 2023. The MAERB regularly monitors the program’s compliance through the annual report and other documentation.

The accreditation standards are established by CAAHEP, MAERB, American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA), American Medical Technologists (AMT), and National Healthcareer Association (NHA).

The East Central College Union Testing Center was awarded certification by the National College Testing Association (NCTA) following a rigorous 18-month process.

According to Kristin Milligan, associate director of the learning center, the certification is a testament to the high standards demonstrated at the testing center. “This certification will help communicate the quality work that staff does to ensure the integrity and professionalism of the testing center at East Central College,” Milligan said. “Individuals and exam sponsors can be confident in the work that the testing center does.”

The testing center operates within in the ECC Learning Center. Criteria for certification are based on the NCTA Professional Standards and Guidelines, which were developed to steer post-secondary test centers in the delivery of quality testing programs.

This certification will be in place for five years and can be renewed through continued compliance to national standards.

Milligan and the entire staff at the testing center are responsible for maintaining high test administration standards and for providing excellent service to a wide variety of students and community members in the performance of their duties. The ECC Testing Center is one amongst a growing number of test centers in the U.S. and Canada to have completed this intensive certification process.

Contact the East Central College Testing Center at 636-584-6550 for more information about the numerous testing services provided, or visit www.eastcentral.edu/learning-center/.

During the spring 2020 semester, Jan. 21 through May 7, the learning center will be open Mondays through Thursdays from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and closed Saturdays and Sundays. The hours are subject to change.

The National College Testing Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of professionalism and high-quality service in the administration of testing programs, offers certification to college and university test centers that demonstrate exemplary practices.  NCTA membership numbers more than 2,200 testing professionals from 650 colleges and universities as well as 50 test companies and organizations offering test-related products and services.  For more information visit www.ncta-testing.org

A new scholarship from Clemco Industries Corp., as a sponsor of the Arnie & Harriet Sallaberry scholarship program, is intended to provide for the development of fully trained and competently skilled employees through related classroom and lab instruction that’s combined with on-the-job training. The scholarship will cover the cost of books, tuition and course fees for the eligible student.

“We want to give back to our community that’s given us so much,” say Arnie and Harriett Sallaberry. “There are wonderful students that need help to start their career in welding or manufacturing and we want to help them to be successful.”

Arnie Sallaberry has been with Clemco for 41 years and in 1999 was named president of the company. Harriett Sallaberry served as the Executive Director of the ECC Foundation from 2003 to 2008.

East Central College Welding and Industrial Engineering Technology students are eligible for the scholarship. The successful scholarship awardee will be provided with part-time employment at Clemco Industries during the successful term of the Associate of Applied Science degree program. Upon completion of the program, the student will be asked to meet a two-year minimum employment commitment with Clemco Industries Corporation.

Scholarship applicants must be a high school graduate or HiSET completer of at least 18 years of age. They must satisfactorily pass at least one year of high school general Math, Algebra or Geometry, pass a pre-employment drug screen and meet admission requirements of East Central College.

Interested applicants can contact the ECC Foundation at 636.584.6505 or foundation@eastcentral.edu.