Congratulations to Alpena Community College’s nursing program for receiving accreditation.

The achievement is noteworthy and provided college teachers, administration and students a reason to smile this week.

Make no mistake, receiving accreditation is a huge achievement.

Accreditation is hard to achieve because of very stringent measuring methods and regulations. Only the best of the best are able to meet those requirements. It is important because many employers only will hire graduates who come from accredited schools because they know the students will have received a solid training foundation. And, it is measuring tool by which perspective students can gauge the quality of a program they are considering entering.

“It’s very difficult for a community college to achieve this,” ACC nursing program Chair Diane O’Connor said in an Alpena News story Friday. “Many programs in our state don’t meet the basic requirements to do that. That says quite a bit about our community and college.”

It does, and that also is reflected in the impression of employers who have hired ACC nursing graduates in the past.

Chuck Sherwin, MidMichigan Medical Center vice president of business development and chief nursing officer, said “even during a time where there is a tremendous national nursing shortage, it’s (ACC) a great feeder system. It’s a great relationship between the hospital and college.”

We are proud and excited to see this popular program obtain such important status. It places the ACC nursing program on a level all by itself.