News from CEA, May 2006

This memo highlights items from the April 2006 meeting of the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation and other information of interest from CEA.

Accreditation decisions

As required by CEA and U.S. Department of Education policy, accreditation decisions must be made public. The following decisions were made at the April 2006 Commission meeting. For a complete list of CEA accredited programs and schools, visit the CEA web site at www.cea-accredit.org.

Granted 4-year continued accreditation, April 2006 - April 2010
OISE Boston Language Institute, Boston MA

Granted 10-year re-accreditation, April 2006 - April 2016
Intensive English Program, Harper College, Palatine IL

Granted 5-year initial accreditation, April 2006 - 2011
Florida Language Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Granted one-year initial accreditation, April 2006-April 2007
NICE, University of Hawaii, Manoa, HI
Foundation English Program, Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi UAE

Accreditation denied
Agape English Language Institute for Internationals, Columbia, SC

Accreditation decision deferred to August meeting
CELL, University of North Alabama, Florence, AL

International accreditation by CEA

The Foundation English Program at the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi, UAE, is the first non-US program to be accredited by CEA. Two other non-US programs are currently in the process of seeking accreditation: the Language Centre English program at Kuwait University and the English Foundation Program at the University of Qatar.

TOEFL grant received

CEA has received a grant from the TOEFL Board to bring together a task force of professionals with experience teaching English and administering programs around the world to review CEA materials with the object of ensuring that they are applicable in non-US settings. The Commission determined early on that the standards would remain the same for all accreditation, but that other materials, such as the context and discussion sections of the CEA Standards for English Language Programs and Institutions and the Accreditation Handbook, which includes suggestions for the self-study, could be reviewed and revised if necessary to fit the needs of international programs and schools. CEA thanks the TOEFL Board for its continued support of CEA activities.

CEA sponsored session at the NAFSA conference

CEA is presenting a general session at NAFSA entitled, "Ensuring an Effective Community College Program for International Students." The session will be at 4:00pm on Thursday the 25th.

Upcoming CEA workshops for initial applicants

CEA will hold an all day Accreditation Workshop on Saturday May 27 in Montreal following the NAFSA conference. The next workshop will be at the CEA office in Alexandria VA on Saturday October 21. For information about the workshops or to apply for eligibility for CEA accreditation, please contact CEA.

If you have any questions about this email, please contact Terry O'Donnell, CEA Executive Director, at 703.519.2070 or by email at info@cea-accredit.org.