Overview
Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) was established by Section 5 of Chapter 15A of the Massachusetts General Laws. QCC operates under the direction of a board of trustees, whose members are appointed by the Governor. The board is responsible for operating under the regulations promulgated by the state’s Board of Higher Education. The president of QCC reports to the board of trustees and is the administrative head of the college.
QCC is a member of the Massachusetts public higher-education system, which consists of 15 community colleges, 9 state universities, and 5 University of Massachusetts campuses. According to QCC’s website,
The college is an accredited, public two-year institution offering over 120 associate degree and certificate options in business, healthcare, technology, liberal arts, and human services. QCC offers a wide variety of non-credit courses, workshops, and seminars through its Center for Workforce Development and Continuing Education.
The main campus is at 670 West Boylston Street in Worcester; 13 satellite sites are located throughout Worcester County.
Early Childhood Education Program
QCC’s Early Childhood Education (ECE) Program prepares students for work in early education and care or other child-related fields. Students develop skills and knowledge related to ECE through courses as well as hands-on experience at weekly off-campus field placements and at QCC’s Children’s School. To ensure that students are suitable to work with children, QCC requires all students who are enrolled in ECE courses to have Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI)1 checks and Sex Offender Registry Information (SORI)2 checks.
As students advance through QCC’s ECE Program, they are required to take capstone courses. Capstone courses are usually taken during a student’s second year of study and include interaction with children. All students participating in capstone courses are required to have fingerprint-based checks. Fingerprint-based checks provide information that is maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in its Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System. This information is in greater depth than CORI or SORI checks and includes criminal activity outside the Commonwealth.
The Children’s School
QCC’s Children’s School provides daycare programs to QCC’s students, staff, and faculty, as well as members of the community, for their children ages two years and nine months to five years. Additionally, students in certain ECE courses train at the school. The Children’s School is licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC). To comply with EEC’s licensing requirements, QCC requires each Children’s School faculty and staff member to pass a CORI check, a SORI check, and a fingerprint-based check. When these are completed, EEC issues a suitability letter, which is a letter indicating that an individual had no criminal records at the time of the background checks and that EEC has therefore determined the individual to be suitable to work in a childcare setting.
| Date published: | March 26, 2020 |
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