Pinellas Technical Education Centers (pTEC) Earns First Accreditation

NIMS is pleased to announce the official accreditation of the Machining Program at the Pinellas Technical Education Centers (pTEC) in Clearwater, Florida!  Officially accredited as of September 24, 2013, the staff and faculty at pTEC have met NIMS standards and will continue to set the bar for exceptional metalworking training for post-secondary education in the state of Florida

To complete the accreditation audit an On-Site Evaluation took place at the tech center on May 2-3, 2013 and was conducted by expert evaluation Team Leader Joan Cook who was assisted by Industry Representative and NIMS Board member Bob Skodzinsky (Haas HTEC Network) and Education Representative Roger Rowan (Daytona State College, which is also pursuing accreditation).  The audit included a facility inspection of the program's metalworking shop, as well as a host of in-depth interviews with students, instructors, administrators, program advisory committee members, and local employers.  Following these events, Joan and her evaluation team gathered enough evidence to recommend accreditation, giving the program above-average ratings in several areas of evaluation, which included Program Purpose, Facilities, Equipment/Tooling/Measuring Devices, Program Features, Administration, Instructional Staff, and Advisory Committee.

This accreditation is in Level I Machining Skills, with an emphasis on:

  • CNC Milling: Programming, Setup, and Operations
  • Grinding I
  • Job Planning, Benchwork, & Layout
  • Measurement, Materials & Safety
  • Milling I (manual)
  • Turning Operations: Turning Chucking

Congratulations to everyone involved in this process, especially Placement Coordinator Bethany Greenley and Instructors Alex Ditinno and Brian Yeates for their combined commitment in securing this accreditation!   Special thanks to Joan Cook and her team for conducting the On-Site Evaluation at the college.

Did you know that NIMS accredits educational training programs and company training programs?  Visit the accreditation page to learn how your training program can become accredited.