In Greece, my first stop of four visits was to The American College of Greece in Athens. Founded in 1875, ACG is the oldest American-accredited college in Europe and the largest private college in Greece. It has been accredited by NECHE since 1981 and is an independent, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, co-educational academic institution. (Whew– that’s a lot of adjectives!). This…Continue readingPit Stop #87: The American University of Greece
In May, I began a two-week trip to visit six universities: two in Turkey and four in Greece. (Yes, I know, work can sometimes be a real burden!) My first stop was Istanbul, where I made an initial visit to Bahçeşehir University, commonly known as BAU. (When a new institution applies for NECHE membership, it requires a 2-3 day visit…Continue readingPit Stop #86: Bahçeşehir University
I suspect few of you have visited the part of India from which I recently returned: the state of Chhattisgarh and the city of Raigarh in central India. Raigarh is a two-hour flight from Delhi (which is a 20-hour flight from Boston), followed by a 100-km car ride from the regional airport in Jharsuguda. Long story short, I was…Continue readingPit Stop #85: OP Jindal University
Penetrating Question: If one of NECHE’s institutions had campuses in Boston, Dubai and London, which one do you think I’d visit first? (Okay, that’s a bit of a trick question since I was already going to London and thus made it irresistible to choose Hult International Business School.) In addition to being accredited by NECHE since 1976, Hult is recognized by business education’s three most…Continue readingPit Stop #84: Hult International Business School
My recent trip west across the Commonwealth had a dual purpose: to make my first visit to Western New England University (WNE) and to meet its Provost, Maria Toyoda, soon to become President of the Western Senior College & University Commission, or WASC. WASC is NECHE’s western counterpart responsible for accrediting four-year colleges in California, Hawaii, and the Pacific Islands. Where both organizations were once strictly regional,…Continue readingPit Stop #83: Western New England University
My second stop in Hartford was at Trinity College, a school I knew well by reputation but had never visited in person. One of my nieces attended Trinity years ago and loved the school, and I was also aware that Trinity is perennially found on the list of America’s most beautiful campuses, so I was eager to see the place for myself. First impression: that honor is well deserved! …Continue readingPit Stop #82: Trinity College
I’ve probably driven past Hartford, Connecticut and gazed over at the gleaming dome of the Capitol hundreds of times, but I have never before exited the highway and driven through the city– or its neighboring town of West Hartford. Today, I did exactly that on my first visit to the University of Hartford. For a…Continue readingPit Stop #81: University of Hartford
I’m guessing that most of our readers are not familiar with the International University of Grand Bassam. In fact, I suspect many of you might not be able to place Grand Bassam on a map. Both were surely true of me several months back, but now I’m actually here in Côte d’Ivoire, the Ivory Coast. I arrived from Florence, Italy (read more here) and that’s the amazing thing about travel…Continue readingPit Stop #80: International University of Grand Bassam
Maybe it’s just end-of-the-year insouciance, but here comes another slightly unconventional post! One day after NECHE’s annual December meeting in Boston (a terrific gathering!), I flew to Austin to celebrate the upcoming retirement of one of my accrediting colleagues, Belle Wheelan. Belle has been President of SACSCOC, the accrediting association of eleven southern states, for twenty years and back when I was President of Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, I was…Continue readingPit Stop #78: On the Road to Texas