3.4.7 Consortia Relationships/Contractual Agreements

The institution ensures the quality of educational programs and courses offered through consortia relationships or contractual agreements, ensures ongoing compliance with the comprehensive requirements, and evaluates the consortia relationship and/or agreement against the purpose of the institution.

  Compliance           ___ Partial Compliance          ___  Non-Compliance   

Narrative:

South Louisiana Community College (SLCC) has one program that is taught through a contractual basis with a local private industry, Acadian Ambulance.  SLCC and Acadian Ambulance through the National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Academy partner in providing the Associate of Applied Science in Emergency Medical Technology-Paramedic.  The initial Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with Acadian Ambulance began on May 1, 2004.  (1)

The terms of the current cooperative endeavor agreement provides appropriate authority for SLCC to ensure control of faculty credentials and the curriculum content.  The contract clearly states:

EMT-Basic and Paramedic National Standard curriculum will follow the curriculum for the Associate of Applied Science in Emergency Medical Technology-Paramedic as published in the South Louisiana Community College Catalog and ensure that the Southern Association for Colleges and Schools (SACS) and the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Profession (CoAEMSP) accreditation standards are met (p. 2).

Similarly, the terms of the contract provide SLCC the authority and responsibility to review and staff the EMT curriculum courses with faculty that meet SACS credentialing standards and to bar any individual that does not meet these standards from serving as faculty. The contract states that SLCC ensures:

Collegiate instructional integrity and provide[s] academic oversight for the program including, but not limited to, faculty credentialing, curriculum development, program review and assessment of outcomes (p. 2).

All faculty members in the program must submit original transcripts for credentialing evaluations and meet the minimum standards for teaching.  Additionally, the contract states that SLCC agrees to “assum[e] sole and direct control of the credit courses offered and assuring that the conduct of the courses meets the standards of regular programs” (p. 3). SLCC's master syllabus governs the EMT-Basic and EMT-Paramedic Program and any requested curriculum changes are forwarded to the SLCC Curriculum Committee (2) for approval.  Acadian Ambulance has a member of its staff on the SLCC Cabinet.

Seventy-eight percent of the students enrolled in EMT-Basic pass the National Registry on their first attempt. (2009-2010 Annual Plan Report, EMTP UP 1) (3)  Eighty-four percent of the paramedic students pass the National Registry on their first attempt. (2009-2010 Annual Plan Report, EMTP UP 3) (4)  Since this arrangement began in 2004, the graduates of this program account for nearly 2% of all EMT completers in the nation.  The program is professionally accredited by the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions. (CoAEMSP) (5)

This partnership is renewed annually.

Documentation: