Blue Ridge Community Technical College (CTC)

Blue Ridge Community and Technical College is not at liberty to discuss any specific student issue without explicit signed Consent from the studentWe highly value the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and exercise due diligence in upholding those rights.In the fall of 2015, Blue Ridge CTC developed a new program in Health Information Management A.A.SThe Curriculum and program is designed for graduates to be competent employees in the field of Health Information ManagementStudents who were in the first class were informed that the college was applying for National Certification under Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIM), and it was the college's goal to be accredited by their graduation so they could sit for the RHIT (Registered Health Information Technician) certificationAs the College began the process of accreditation, it was discovered that by CAHIM rules the college could not apply for accreditation until months before the first class graduatedThe students were informed in the fall of that the College would not have accreditation completed by their graduation, but it was the College's aspiration to be completed by the fall of At that time, the college offered to provide a refresher course for the students at no cost once accreditation was obtained, and they could then sit for the RHIT examThe college applied for accreditation as soon as eligible (November of 2016) and received candidacy status with CAHIIM in May of 2017.The College Was Working all along on the self-study to submit to CAHIM as the next step in the processThis was completed by November 2017, and the college is now awaiting reply from CAHIIM to set a date for the site visitCAHIM reserves the right to take up to months to schedule this visit.With this protracted timeline, the first-year graduates were again informed there would be a delay in their eligibility to sit for the RHIT examThe college interviewed the employers for the various HIM positions and were informed that the RHIT certification was not required for the positionsIn fact, some of the students were offered jobs during their internships for the degreeWe have worked and continue to work with our career placement department to help these student find jobs in the HIM field.The Complaint states, "We paid for a course to prepare us for the examination and were not given the Course as a part of the curriculum." This is a misstatement of factThe entire curriculum of the AAS program is designed to prepare the student for a career in HIM as well as to sit for the RHIT certification examThere was not a specific course in the curriculum geared for the exam, and students did not pay for a Specific CourseThe complaint also states, "Since we do not have the certification, we are not eligible, for employment in the HIM technician field." This is inaccurateNot only have some of the graduates obtained employed, two of the hiring managers in the area are not RHIT certified themselves

Blue Ridge Community and Technical College is not at liberty to discuss any specific student issue without explicit signed consent from the studentWe highly value the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and exercise due diligence in upholding those rights.In general, we will respond to questions you may have regarding our Nursing program and grading policiesThe Associate of Science in Nursing program at Blue Ridge Community and Technical College maintains full accreditation at the state and national level; The West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nursing and The Accreditation Commission for Education in NursingIn April 2016, we completed a comprehensive visit by The West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nursing and received full accreditationThe program maintains a 100% pass rate on the NCLwith an alumni satisfaction of 75-100%Our employment rate of graduates is also strong and published,The program is a competitive admissions programFull requirements may be found on our website at: [redacted] Students must maintain a 78% test average in order to continue to progress through the programShould a student not be able to successfully achieve a 78% test average, they are given one opportunity to repeat the course in the following semesterStudents are allowed two repeated courses before they are nolonger eligible to continue in the program.Should students disagree with their grading, the College has a grade appeal process that incorporates faculty members in determining if an error occurredThe final level appeal is with the PresidentThis process may be located in our student handbook which is published online.We appreciate the high stakes nature of the program and take care in providing the support services needed for our studentsThis includes but isn't limited to disability services, tutoring, testing accommodations, and mental health servicesWe have contracts with local agencies to ensure that Services are accessible to all students.Thank you for the opportunity to respond, Should you have any further questions, please contact Leslie S**, VPEM at ***@blueridgectc.edu or ###-###-####

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responseIf no reason is received your complaint will be closed Adm***stratively Resolved]
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: Blue Ridge CTC failed to give proper medical LEGAL testing accommodations to my wife In addition to that Blue Ridge CTC violated the FERPA law by providing account information about *** *** (my wife) to Saira B*** -> WV House of Representatives without her being on the authorized list of individuals that Blue Ridge CTC could speak to on my wife's behalf Again, my wife's PCP went through the legal testing accommodation process that Blue Ridge CTC has on file and they still failed to provide proper testing accommodations This is not just an experience of my wife's, I have the names and numbers to several other student's that were failed by Blue Ridge CTC because the college itself DID NOT give the student's the proper testing accommodations Please feel free to reach out to our PCP *** *** - *** *** *** -> ###-###-#### A Nurse by the first name of Karen that works there was exposed to this same exact FAILURE on Blue Ridge CTC's behalf In additional a student by the name of *** *** was flunked out by Blue Ridge CTC for not giving proper testing accommodations He had to go to HCC, pay thousands more, and add a year to his degree to become an RN (which he is now) Here are other individuals that are aware or have been exposed to issues on hand by Blue Ridge CTC:*** *** - ** *** *** Inwood, WV - ###-###-####*** *** - *** *** *** M I am obtaining his address and phone number now so you can speak with him*** RN who works for *** *** *** in Martinsburg, WV *** ***I am in the process of obtaining a written letter from her PCP with the information of these individuals and/or her situation Feel free to reach out to any of these individuals to contact them in regards to this matter and to verify the legitimacy of my statement(s) I believe you'll find those phone calls rather interesting and learn a lot about this College and/or their processes for medical testing accommodations
Regards,
*** ***

Blue Ridge Community and Technical College is not at liberty to discuss any specific student issue without explicit signed Consent from the student. We highly value the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and exercise due diligence in upholding those rights.In the fall of 2015, Blue...

Ridge CTC developed a new program in Health Information Management A.A.S. The Curriculum and program is designed for graduates to be competent employees in the field of Health Information Management. Students who were in the first class were informed that the college was applying for National Certification under Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIM), and it was the college's goal to be accredited by their graduation so they could sit for the RHIT (Registered Health Information Technician) certification. As the College began the process of accreditation, it was discovered that by CAHIM rules the college could not apply for accreditation until 6 months before the first class graduated. The students were informed in the fall of 2016 that the College would not have accreditation completed by their graduation, but it was the College's aspiration to be completed by the fall of 2017. At that time, the college offered to provide a refresher course for the students at no cost once accreditation was obtained, and they could then sit for the RHIT exam. The college applied for accreditation as soon as eligible (November of 2016) and received candidacy status with CAHIIM in May of 2017.The College Was Working all along on the self-study to submit to CAHIM as the next step in the process. This was completed by November 2017, and the college is now awaiting reply from CAHIIM to set a date for the site visit. CAHIM reserves the right to take up to 7 months to schedule this visit.With this protracted timeline, the first-year graduates were again informed there would be a delay in their eligibility to sit for the RHIT exam. The college interviewed the employers for the various HIM positions and were informed that the RHIT certification was not required for the positions. In fact, some of the students were offered jobs during their internships for the degree. We have worked and continue to work with our career placement department to help these student find jobs in the HIM field.The Complaint states, "We paid for a course to prepare us for the examination and were not given the Course as a part of the curriculum." This is a misstatement of fact. The entire curriculum of the AAS program is designed to prepare the student for a career in HIM as well as to sit for the RHIT certification exam. There was not a specific course in the curriculum geared for the exam, and students did not pay for a Specific Course. The complaint also states, "Since we do not have the certification, we are not eligible, for employment in the HIM technician field." This is inaccurate. Not only have some of the graduates obtained employed, two of the hiring managers in the area are not RHIT certified themselves.

Blue Ridge Community and Technical College is not at liberty to discuss any specific student issue without explicit signed consent from the student. We highly value the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and exercise due diligence in upholding those rights.In general, we will respond...

to questions you may have regarding our Nursing program and grading policies. The Associate of Science in Nursing program at Blue Ridge Community and Technical College maintains full accreditation at the state and national level; The West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nursing and The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. In April 2016, we completed a comprehensive visit by The West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nursing and received full accreditation. The program maintains a 100% pass rate on the NCLEX-RN with an alumni satisfaction of 75-100%. Our employment rate of graduates is also strong and published,The program is a competitive admissions program. Full requirements may be found on our website at: [redacted]. Students must maintain a 78% test average in order to continue to progress through the program. Should a student not be able to successfully achieve a 78% test average, they are given one opportunity to repeat the course in the following semester. Students are allowed two repeated courses before they are nolonger eligible to continue in the program.Should students disagree with their grading, the College has a grade appeal process that incorporates faculty members in determining if an error occurred. The final level appeal is with the President. This process may be located in our student handbook which is published online.We appreciate the high stakes nature of the program and take care in providing the support services needed for our students. This includes but isn't limited to disability services, tutoring, testing accommodations, and mental health services. We have contracts with local agencies to ensure that Services are accessible to all students.Thank you for the opportunity to respond, Should you have any further questions, please contact Leslie S**, VPEM at [redacted]@blueridgectc.edu or ###-###-####.

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