NIMS is pleased to announce the official accreditation of the Precision Manufacturing & Machining Program at Jones County Junior College (JCJC) of Ellisville, Mississippi - the first NIMS-Accredited training program in the state!  Since first applying for accreditation in 2010, the staff and faculty at JCJC have met NIMS standards for quality and will continue to set the bar for exceptional metalworking training for post-secondary education in the state of Mississippi.

To complete the accreditation audit, an On-Site Evaluation took place at the JCJC facility on July 23-24, 2012, which was conducted by veteran NIMS Evaluation Team Leader Ron Krueger of Eaton Hydraulics in Eden Prairie and Instructor Willy Showah of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, where machining students have been earning NIMS credentials since 2009.

The audit included a facility inspection of the program’s metalworking shop and a host of in-depth interviews with students, instructors, administrators, program advisory committee members, and local employers.  Following these events, the evaluation team gathered enough evidence to recommend accreditation, giving the program very high ratings in the areas of Program Purpose, Euipment/Tooling/Measuring Devices, Administration Support, Instructional Staff, and Advisory Committee Support.

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

• Measurement, Materials & Safety
• Job Planning, Benchwork, & Layout
• Drill Press Skills
• Manual Milling Skills
• Grinding Skills
• Turning Between Centers
• Turning: Chucking Skills
• CNC Milling: Setup & Operations
• CNC Turning: Setup & Operations

Congratulations to everyone involved in this process, especially Instructor Jerry Hamm for working so actively to secure this accreditation!   Special thanks to the Evaluation Team as well, without which this would not be possible!

To learn more about this program, click the link above or contact Jerry Hamm.