Six Nations Polytechnic accreditation elevates education quality

Six Nations Polytechnic has another notch on its belt, this time, acquiring accreditation through the Indigenous Advanced Education and Skills Council (IAESC).

In 2020, SNP attained organizational approval (accreditation) through the IAESC for a period of ten years.

SNP held a special ceremony to mark the accreditation at its Brantford campus last Friday.

SNP is now eligible to grant certificates, diplomas and degrees with the same rigour and quality as publicly-funded colleges and universities.

SNP is joined by eight other Indigenous Institutions across Ontario that now make up a third tier in Ontario post-secondary education alongside colleges and universities.

SNP holds institutional accreditation through IAESC and internationally through the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium (WINHEC).

At the program level, SNP’s signature Bachelor of Arts in Ogwehoweh Languages degree program holds Ministerial consent and is accredited through the Post-Secondary Education Quality Assessment Board (PEQAB). With the expansion into Brantford, the school is helping to fill a critical need for trades training in the area. SNP holds Training Delivery Agency (TDA) status for apprenticeships and is an approved delivery agency for three trades. SNP’s STEAM Academy offers an innovative Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) to college program in partnership with IBM and Mohawk College. SNP is also an approved provider of Additional Qualification (AQ) courses with the Ontario College of Teachers.

SNP is working hard to provide recognized Indigenous language degree programs.

This fall, SNP will be launching an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Ogwehoweh Languages program, with a number of additional programs in development at the certificate, diploma, and degree levels.

“SNP has a responsibility to maintain the trust and confidence of the communities we serve,” said SNP President Rebecca Jamison. “

Accreditation processes documents and affirm the quality of its programs, she said, which are, “important benchmarks for continued quality assurance. The IAESC accreditation is significant as SNP will now be able to expand our contributions to quality-assured Indigenous education in Ontario.”

For Six Nations Polytechnic, the road to recognition has been long.

“As part of the board, I am pleased that SNP stays true to the purpose to make constant efforts to ensure the quality of all our programs,” said Board Chair Kevin “Bubba” Martin.

Six Nations Elected Chief Mark Hill said Six Nations Polytechnic is a “huge success.”

“It just goes to show even further the success that Six Nations Polytech has had over the near 30 years of its operation,” he said. “That’s a huge honour and success in itself.”

The institution was originally founded in 1993, offering programs in partnership with Ontario Colleges and Universities with the intent of increasing access and supports for Indigenous learners. Since that time the institution has grown significantly and has recently celebrated the acquisition of a second campus in the City of Brantford and has attained accreditation in multiple areas enabling them to offer expanded programming options.

SNP has been providing post-secondary and trades training courses and programs to the Six Nations of the Grand River community for almost 30 years. SNP holds accreditation provincially and internationally at both the program and institutional levels. In addition, the institution partners with numerous publicly-funded colleges and universities throughout Ontario.

The Indigenous Advanced Education and Skills Council is an Indigenous-controlled and governed council, recognized under the Indigenous Institutes Act of 2017.

The council is tasked with establishing quality assurance standards and benchmarks for organizations and programs delivered by the Indigenous Institutes pillar.

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