Excelsior Community College is now ISO 9001 certified

THE EXCELSIOR Community College (ECC) is now ISO 9001: 2015 certified. The scope of the certification covers the furnishing of courses and the granting of degrees for tertiary education (the bachelor’s in nursing, associate degree, and bachelor’s in information technology, associate degree, and bachelor’s in business administration) and the research on social sciences and humanities.

Also included in the scope of certification is research on social sciences which is assigned to the college’s Research and Innovation Division. Through this division, the ECC provides research services to internal and external clients.

Achieving and maintaining quality product development and service delivery is based on reliable and valid research, and the college’s Research and Innovation Division maintains that quality research is critical for the provision of valid and reliable data that is essential for quality product development and service delivery.

The ECC received ISO 9001:2015 certification on February 28, an achievement that signifies the credibility and competence of the institution and its members under its scope of certification.

LIFELONG LEARNING

The certification demonstrates the ECC’s ability to provide relevant, market-driven lifelong learning and educational programmes and certification that satisfy stakeholders and are in alignment with national and global labour market demands and human resource development goals.

The ISO 9001:2015 standard is the international standard that specifies the requirements for a quality management system. It outlines engagement with people, customer focus, leadership and improvement of evidence-based decision-making in each organisation.

It therefore means that the ECC has met all requirements for an effective quality management system (QMS), as specified by this international standards.

Philmore McCarthy, principal of the ECC, expressed gratitude and lauded his team for their diligent work.

“We applaud the hardworking and dedicated ECC family. It is indeed a pleasure to serve as your team leader at this time. We continue to give thanks to God for His enduring mercies that have enabled us to give humane service to our students and other stakeholders. In particular, Dean Nadine Walker and the IQA team for their commitment to achieving this goal,” he said.

Navenia Wellington Ford, manager, The National Certification Body of Jamaica (NCBJ), also congratulated the ECC on its recent certification.

According to Wellington Ford, the NCBJ’s slogan, ‘certify locally, compete globally’,“embodies exactly what we do. We provide management system certification services that have international acceptability and ISO 9001: 2015 certification is used to provide assurance that an organisation has implemented a quality management system for its goods and services. The Excelsior Community College has taken this step to join the international community of certified companies, which demonstrates their commitment to quality service and products. The NCBJ congratulates Excelsior Community College on achieving this milestone. ECC is a clear example to other entities, public and private, on leveraging the benefits of having a certified quality management system.”

Founded in 1931, the ECC, which has five campuses (Camp Road, Eureka Road, Mountain View Avenue, Deanery Road and Wesley Grove), continues to carry out its mission to ‘transform lives through quality education and training, applied research and partnerships with local and international stakeholders’. This new certification is indeed another step in the right direction, as the ECC fulfils the mission to students and stakeholders.

This latest achievement is also expected to enhance the global portability and competitiveness of qualifications obtained at the ECC and, generally, colleges in Jamaica.