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After nearly two years of being apart due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ACCET’s 2021 annual conference and annual business meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada was a huge success! It was a welcomed time to come together as a community as we move “Together Towards Tomorrow.”

This year ACCET staff welcomed 223 participants and 58 exhibitors to the annual conference. A special thanks goes to Sandy Lockwood and Darlene Foret for their hard work in making the conference so successful. Additionally, I would like to express my gratitude to ACCET Commissioners, speakers, and staff for their incredible contributions to the success of the conference.

During the business meeting, Dr. Brad Bouté was elected for his first term as an ACCET Institutional Commissioner after completing an appointed partial term. Additionally, Ms. Megan Kobzej and Ms. Haviva Parnes were elected by the members to second terms as ACCET Institutional Commissioners. The Commission confirmed additional terms of service for Ms. Terry O’Donnell, Ms. Sophia Perkovich, and Dr. Timothy Mott as ACCET Public Commissioners, and the terms for ACCET Institutional Commissioners Dr. Donnell Bayot and Ms. Yadexy Sierra were extended for one additional year. Finally, the membership voted to approve several revisions and changes to the ACCET Standards of Accreditation. Additional updates regarding these revisions will be provided in the near future. The revised standards will go into effect in the December 2023 visit cycle.

The closing session of the conference included presentations from the Thomas R. Tillia Community Service award finalists: Asher College, InterCoast Colleges, and Approach International Student Center. The winner of the 2021 Thomas R. Tillia Community Service Award was Approach International Student Center. Congratulations to the management, faculty, and staff of Approach!

In addition to the award announcement, ACCET’s Training and Development Manager and newest staff member, Michael Oswald, announced several new training initiatives to improve training for members, volunteers, and staff. These initiatives include a partnership with MaxKnowledge-powered Online Training Center to bring training and development opportunities to institutions in a variety of areas, such as: admissions, career services, compliance, financial aid, and student retention.

Michael also announced the addition of an eLearning course development software and a learning management system to ACCET operations. The Articulate eLearning authoring software coupled with the TalentLMS learning Management system gives ACCET opportunities to onboard, train, and develop ACCET staff and volunteers. Additionally, the Commission will have the ability to develop specialized trainings for member institutions. We are excited to share these opportunities for training and development with the membership.

Finally, ACCET’s Commission Chair, Yadexy Sierra, announced that Christopher Lambert has resigned his position as ACCET Executive Director for personal reasons. We thank Mr. Lambert for his contributions to the agency and wish him well in the future. A search committee has been formed to identify a new Executive Director. In the meantime, please direct any questions to me at Kate@accet.org, or our Chief of Staff, Corey Rosso at Corey@accet.org.

Best Regards,

Kate Zulaski
Deputy Executive Director