History of the Great Lakes College Testing Association

While attending the National College Testing Association (NCTA) 2010 conference in Atlanta, Mike Baumer of Wright State University, Jim Kalna of Columbus State Community College and Shara Freeman from the University of Cincinnati Clermont began discussions regarding the creation of a state/regional organizational version of the NCTA for Ohio.  Similar conversations were also being held between Heidi Pettyjohn of the University of Cincinnati, Brian Endicott of The Ohio State University and Amy Gordon of Youngstown State university.  In the spring of 2011, these two groups found each other through the NCTA listserv and began formally charting a path for creation of the Ohio College Testing Association (OCTA).

The first OCTA state conference was held in June of 2012 to stimulate support for this Ohio organization.  The approval gained from the statewide support from testing member professionals from all across Ohio energized the group to formalize the initial governing board and start the journey of OCTA.

This group then secured an NCTA grant to fund the second OCTA state Conference in May 2013, and saw over 82 members attend.  We owe a huge thanks to our founding members who had the vision to bring people together in a formal organization which provides professional support and development to testing professionals in colleges and universities in Ohio...and now beyond!

In the spring of 2017, discussions began regarding expansion of OCTA to a regional association which would include the Great Lakes states, due to years of active participation from testing professionals in neighboring states.  This idea became a reality in the spring of 2018 as we officially became the Great Lakes College Testing Association.