Volunteers of the Year

The Volunteer of the Year Award is a new award which recognizes a volunteer from the membership who has made a significant contribution to career education and the ACCSC community through his or her dedication to the accrediting process. This year, we are pleased to recognize two outstanding individuals who have dedicated their time and significant talents to the Commission.

2009 ACCSC Volunteer of the Year – Richard Armbruster

In 1993, a newly created board of directors from career and technical institutions came together to form the Accreditation Alliance of Career Schools and Colleges to do business as the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology. While the nine members of the Commission’s first board of directors laid an important foundation for the future of career college accreditation, Richard Armbruster is one of the founding members who continues to serve the Commission’s institutions and students with the same dedication and commitment to career education that characterized his work as one of ACCSC’s first Commissioners. As the owner and operator of the TESST Institutes of Technology until 2002, Rich Armbruster was known for his integrity, his commitment to the service in the career education community, and his dedication to students.  In 1997 he represented career colleges on the National Postsecondary Education Working Group on Student Outcomes to make policy recommendations to the Secretary of Education on evaluating student outcomes and the depth of his knowledge helped to shape the Commission’s construct for reviewing student outcomes that remains in place today. Following two 4-year terms as an ACCSC Commissioner, Rich served for many years as a member of ACCSC’s Appeals Panel.  Today, although retired from operating career colleges, Rich Armbruster remains engaged with the Commission volunteering hours of his time to ACCSC committee work on financial analysis.  The Commission is grateful for his service and his continuing contribution of his experience to the accreditation process.

2009 ACCSC Volunteer of the Year – Valerie Njie

Valerie Njie has served as an ACCSC Team Leader since 2000, conducting over 50 on-site evaluations on behalf of the Commission. Ms. Njie currently serves as the Vice President of the Bidwell Training Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Bidwell Training Center is a unique postsecondary institution that has been in operation for over forty years serving disadvantaged and dislocated residents in Southwestern Pennsylvania.  Ms. Njie has been with Bidwell Training Center since 1981 and has also served as a teacher in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as an education specialist for the Massachusetts Department of Education.  Valerie’s commitment to society and education is further demonstrated by her educational social work duties and responsibilities while living in the Gambia in South Africa.  Ms. Njie holds a BS degree in Elementary Education from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a MS degree in Management – Human Resource Development from the University of Utah located in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

Valerie Njie’s commitment and dedication to higher education and her tireless efforts to serve on ACCSC on-site evaluation teams make her an excellent candidate to be selected for multiple site reviews.  She has participated in several Commission-directed and other challenging on-site evaluations and provides an exceptional sense of leadership.  In addition, she has served the Commission as an Appeals Panel Member since 2007 and consistently demonstrates her compassion with regard to the sector of higher education and the ACCSC membership while upholding the integrity of the ACCSC Standards of Accreditation.

Comments from colleagues include the following: “Val is incredibly energetic and quickly agrees to serve on teams,” “Valerie is a role-model for volunteers, which is made evident by her passion to our sector of higher education,” and “Val is always well prepared, focused, and retains a balance of fairness, humanity, and the appropriate protocol/s during on-site evaluations, especially those most challenging.”

Click here for a list of previews award winners of the ACCSC Team Leaders of the Year Award.

Click here for a list of previous award winners of the ACCSC Education Specialist of the Year Award.