U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today announced the appointment of three new members and the reappointment of two others to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI).

Carol D'Amico, Thomas Dillon, and Ronald Blumenthal join the 15-member panel charged with recommending to the secretary which accrediting agencies should be recognized as reliable authorities for judging the quality of postsecondary institutions and programs. Schools must be approved by a recognized accrediting agency to be eligible for federal student aid and participation in other federal programs.

"NACIQI plays an integral role in ensuring that accrediting agencies maintain the highest standards," Paige said. "Our three newest members represent three very different types of institutions and bring a diversity of experience and expertise to the committee. These varied perspectives are essential for the important task of recommending whether accrediting agencies should be recognized for assuring that schools and programs provide a high quality education to their students and merit participation in federal student aid programs."

Thomas Dillon has been president of Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, Calif., since 1991. He also served as a congressionally appointed member of the National Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance from 1996 until 2001.

Ronald Blumenthal is vice president of accreditation for Kaplan College and vice president of operations for Kaplan, Inc., which provides a variety of educational services for all levels of education, including test preparation. Prior to joining Kaplan he was assistant executive director of the Jewish Community Center of Dallas.

Carol D'Amico is chancellor for the Central Indiana Region of Ivy Tech State College and served as assistant secretary, U.S. Education Department's Office for Vocational and Adult Education, from July 2001 to June 2003.

The term for all three new members will expire Sept. 30, 2006.

Robert C. Andringa, president, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, and Laura P. Noone, president, University of Phoenix, were both reappointed for an additional year as NACIQI chair and vice chair respectively. They will each serve until Sept. 30, 2004.

The two members reappointed for another term are Ronald Mason, Jr., president of Jackson State University, Miss., and David Johnson, a graduate student at Brigham Young University, who is the committee's student representative.

The next meeting of the committee is scheduled for June 10-11, 2004.

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