From Thursday, April 21, 2016 to Friday, April 22, 2016 Palau Community College (PCC) is hosting meetings for the Pacific Postsecondary Education Council (PPEC).  Scheduled meetings include the presidents & chancellors of the learning institutions, accreditation liaison officers (ALOs), and chief academic officers (CAOs).  Included in this year’s meeting is a special session with Dr. Barbara A. Beno (President) and Ms. Susan Kazama (Chair) of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC).

The first day of the meeting began with a welcoming at the PCC Assembly Hall.  Dr. Beno and Ms. Kazama followed with their special presentation.  Their presentation opened with a listening session that allowed PPEC meeting participants to voice their concerns about the accreditation process.

Afterwards, Dr. Beno led a presentation about new accreditation standards and practices that focus on quality improvement.  Themes covered by Dr. Beno included quality improvement, student outcomes, improvement in consistency, and clarity of standards & practices.  The group had the opportunity to visit the world renowned rock islands that afternoon.

Meetings scheduled for Friday, April 22, 2016 will allow the different groups to meet & discuss issues pertaining to postsecondary learning institutions across the Pacific region.  The visiting members of PPEC will be in Palau until Saturday, April 23, 2016.

PPEC is a non-profit, public corporation established in 1981 consisting of presidents and chancellors from higher education institutions in the United States of America as well as nations in the Pacific affiliated with the United States.  It serves to address the concerns and needs of Pacific island post-secondary institutions.  In addition, PPEC provides a network in which  post-secondary institutions in the Pacific can share & discuss education topics.  The current members of the council include higher education institutions in Hawaii, American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and the Republic of Palau.