The Council on Occupational Education (COE) is schedule to conduct a Reaffirmation of Accreditation site visit at the Center for Surface Combat Systems (CSCS) in Dahlgren, Virginia, April 24-27.

The purpose of this visit is to assess CSCS and its 15 learning sites as an accredited institution using the standards and criteria established by COE. Accreditation has two fundamental purposes: to assure the quality of the institution and its programs and assist in the improvement of the institution and its programs.

COE, a nationally recognized accrediting agency, is a nonprofit voluntary membership organization serving postsecondary education and training institutions, centers, and similar entities, interested in the improvement of the workforce. The process will cover training throughout the CSCS domain, which trains more than 37,000 students annually at 15 learning sites and detachments located throughout the continental United States, Hawaii, Spain, and Japan.

COE requires all organizations to conduct a self-study before the team visit. There are 10 standards organizations must meet in order to be accredited through COE, and the self-study allows the organization a process to meet those standards and prepare documentation.

"The CSCS headquarters team has been diligently working over the past year to update the self-study and to address the 10 standards," explained Jeff Vinneau, CSCS' COE Accreditation liaison officer. "Our evaluation of meeting the criteria has involved all departments and learning sites in our domain."

The visiting COE team will also rely on personnel interviews, observations of conditions and practices, and other essential documentation to determine if CSCS is in compliance with the standards and criteria required for accreditation.

"This accreditation is a critical part of our training process and illustrates our mission to deliver the best quality of training to the fleet," said Jon Harris, CSCS' director of training.

For information, questions or comments regarding COE, please contact the Executive Director of the Commission, Council on Occupational Education via mail at 7840 Roswell Road, Building 300, Suite 325, Atlanta, Georgia 30350, or submit comments through the council's website http://www.council.org. Individuals submitting comments must provide their names and mailing addresses.

CSCS' mission is to develop and deliver surface ship combat systems training to achieve surface warfare superiority. CSCS headquarters' staff oversees 15 learning sites and provides nearly 70,000 hours of curriculum for 528 courses each year to more than 37,000 Sailors. CSCS delivers specialized training for officer and enlisted Sailors required to tactically operate, maintain, and employ shipboard and shore-based weapons, sensors, and command and control systems utilized in today's Navy.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.

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