The Lewis University Aviation Department is currently working to improve the quality of degrees within their umbrella.
In the past several years, the aviation department has been working with the school to obtain an accreditation by an organization called the Aviation Accreditation Board International or AABI. Within the universities that have aviation programs, this is considered to be the gold standard for collegiate aviation accreditation.
The review process takes about five years, although it varies depending on the organization. However, it starts with the application, where the school has to submit the curriculum of their program. In this case, Lewis University decided to submit two of their five undergraduate programs, those being Aviation Flight and Aviation Maintenance Technology. As the process goes on, the department plans to keep adding the certification to the rest of their undergraduate programs, as well as their graduate program.
Dr. Ryan Phillips, Department Chair of Aviation and Transportation, states, “We are committed to give the students the best experience, the best quality.” He goes on to explain that this certification will be beneficial for the diplomas that students obtain at the end of their time at Lewis since their value will increase, opening doors for companies across the U.S. and possibly around the world.
For the past two years, since they got approved, the aviation department has been working on their self assessment, where they improve any area deemed necessary for the program to pass the criteria set by the AABI. As they did so, they put together evidence to bring to the board members. Once that is finalized, it is time for the next stage.
On Oct. 3, Phillips was able to welcome some of the members of the AABI to Lewis University, where they came at 8:30 a.m. and attended some classes with the students, to make their own assessments of the program. Additionally, they talked to staff members, the president of the university and so on. Once the day was finalized, Phillips sat down with the AABI members and they provided him with the feedback that they were able to gather from the day they spent on campus.
“All the feedback we got was extremely positive, so we’re feeling very good about the visit,” says Phillips. He goes on to explain that within the meeting there were some pointers that were highlighted by the members that came, “So we’ve already started, we just met this last week and started to talk about addressing some of those areas that were identified, where we could strengthen them a little bit,areas that we’re really strong in.
Phillips has stated that he is confident in the success of obtaining this certification. He thanks the administration, Provost, and President for all the support that the university has provided to the program, since he believes that it will help the students with their future endeavors.
