UNG leaders aid Belize counterparts with quality assurance

Four University of North Georgia (UNG) leaders recently helped a junior college in Belize with its quality assurance process. Two of the four also helped the University of Belize (UB) begin its process of working toward Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation.

Making the trip to Belize to aid Sacred Heart Junior College were UNG Vice Provost Dr. Chaudron Gille; Dr. Carly Womack-Wynne, professor of education; Dr. Andy Novobilski, associate provost for research and engagement and chief research officer; and Dr. Teresa Conner-Kerr, dean and professor in the College of Health Sciences & Professions.

Womack-Wynne has been consulting the country’s Ministry of Education for about a decade, including the quality assurance focus the past couple of years. She said the accreditation from an outside agency is a big deal for the UB.  

The school is seeking to be accredited by 2022. Wynne and Gille spoke to UB officials about the value of accreditation, types of accreditation and the different regional and educational accreditation bodies, as well as standards.

Gille said it was interesting to see the differences of record-keeping in a primarily oral culture compared with the document-based system in the United States.